Expectations
by MagpieCircus
Summary: DHr. He thought she was dead. She thought he was a loyal Death Eater. Expectations sometimes aren't reality. When Draco rescues Hermione they are both forced to re-evaluate each other. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Because I am not JK, sadly I do not own these characters.

* * *

She awoke at the sound of the door closing above her. Her head was aching dully, as was usual now. She opened her eyes slowly and sat up, her body aching. Stretching out her arms and legs, she stood up from her makeshift bed and walked to the foot of the stairs. The usual tray of food sat on the top step and she climbed the stairs slowly to bring it down. It was the usual: a bowl of some kind of vegetable soup with cubes of chicken in and a bread roll. They fed her enough to keep her alive. Weak, but alive. At the beginning she had tried to keep her strength up by doing exercise every day, but she'd soon had to stop because her body protested too much.

She took the tray downstairs and placed it on the floor next to her makeshift bed – a couple of blankets laid out on top of some old, flattened cardboard boxes. It was certainly more comfortable than the cold stone floor. She took the flask she had been given months ago and filled it with water from the tiny sink in the corner of the room. At least she had a working toilet and sink. She took a mouthful from the flask. As the water washed down her mouth and throat she let out a sigh of relief and her headache eased a little. Sitting down in the makeshift bed, she then ate half the bowl of soup and half the bread roll. She always ate slowly, savouring the taste. After putting the tray down, she picked up a small piece of stone that she kept beside her bed and made a mark on the wall beside her, a diagonal mark across four others. The wall was half full of them, neatly arranged in rows and columns. She counted again, as she did every day. 45 tallies, each made up of four vertical lines and a diagonal line through them. That meant she'd been her for 225 days. Over half a year since she'd been free. Well, as free as you could be in this world the way it was. She always made sure she kept the right count when she could. If she was out of the room for more than a day, she'd be sure to mark it correctly when she got back.

225\. Two hundred and twenty five. Half of 450. Square of 15. Twenty-three letters long. She did her small amount of maths every time she made a mark, noting if the number had anything significant about it. Her mind was her best asset. She might have given up hope of ever being free again but she'd be damned if she gave them the satisfaction of ruining her mind for good. She was far too stubborn for that. Sure, they'd messed with her mind a hell of a lot – it certainly wasn't what it had been – but she held on.

* * *

He tapped his fingers impatiently on the table, waiting for the discussion that had turned suddenly heated to ebb. This meeting had been going on for far too long and all he wanted to do was get home. There was a dull ache starting behind his eyes.

"Maybe if you weren't so concerned with the privacy of your _precious_ house, we'd all be a little less suspicious, Lestrange."

"I'm not doing it, Parkinson! No one else has had to open up their homes. And don't think we haven't noticed how private you are about your own!"

"Enough." Draco said over the two men. "If it's quite alright with all of you I'd like to suggest moving this issue to the next meeting as you two are clearly getting nowhere. And I'd rather not be late home just because of a petty squabble."

"Malfoy, this is none of your-"

"I think you'll find it is exactly _my_ business considering I'm your superior, Lestrange." He said with a smirk.

Lestrange made a noise like a growl in the back of his throat and he looked like he was about to say something else when the Dark Lord raised his hand to silence everyone.

"Draco is right. This can be resolved next time." He said. "Draco, what news is there of the resistance's abolition in Reading?"

"We've yet to find their base but I have some good leads. I'm tailing a known resistance member so sooner or later she'll lead us there. We haven't struck yet because we don't want to alert them to our knowledge."

"Excellent work. That will be all for this time." He said and gestured to convey that the meeting was over.

Draco stood quickly and walked to the drawing room door. They were using Nott's house and Theo usually tried to drag Draco out for drinks after meetings, but he was not going tonight. All he wanted at that moment was his armchair in his warm living room with only the bottle of whiskey from his drinks cart for company. Walking towards the front door he could hear Theo calling his name from down the corridor, but fortunately, he was out of the front door and the wards before Theo could catch up and he disapparated.

* * *

A few hours later, Hermione woke with a start. She could hear unfamiliar noises above her. Crashes and bangs and shouting. She couldn't distinguish any voices. Something was wrong. There were bits of dust and stone falling from the ceiling. She tried listening for a few minutes but the noise made it impossible to distinguish any specific sounds. Her bones were still aching from the torture earlier that night but she ran as quickly as she could up the stairs to the door and pressed her ear against it. She could hear the voices a bit more clearly from there. She could just about distinguish some of the spells people were yelling. She could hear people yelling the killing curse, but also others shouting jinxes and curses. Death Eaters didn't fight like this amongst themselves. Her brain was working slowly. The resistance! They were here. They were still going. For the first time in probably a year and a half, a slight smile teased at the corners of her lips. If she could get out of here and get to a wand then she could help fight. She probably wouldn't be very good. But if she could just get out. The voices were getting clearer now, as if they were getting closer to her. She started yelling and banging on the door. Her voice sounded strange to her. She hadn't used it for a week or so, she realised. She yelled and banged and kicked and tried opening the door. No one seemed to be hearing her. Why was no one letting her out? She needed to get out. She could help them.

The sounds of the battle changed. She stopped yelling and listened. There was less crashing now and more voices. More Death Easters must be apparating in, she thought. And she started yelling louder. If they didn't find her soon, it would be too late.

"Fall back!" she heard a familiar voice yell from close by but she couldn't quite place it. The voices got further away.

"No!" she yelled, her voice hoarse and her throat aching. "Help me!"

She didn't realise she was crying until she felt tears fall on her hands. She could still hear voices, but they weren't shouting killing curses anymore. They sounded angry though.

She had given up hope long ago of being free. She thought the resistance was done with, that the few members still alive after everything would be so far apart there'd be no chance of an organised attack or rebellion. She'd been wrong obviously. And she focused on the single fact that the resistance was active. That one fact had given her hope for the brief half hour they were here that she'd be free again. And having that hope ripped away as suddenly as it came left her feeling hollow. She didn't know how long she sat there with her knees up to her chest and her head leaning against the door. She ran out of tears eventually but her body still shook with silent sobs.

She heard footsteps approaching the door, but she didn't have time to get back down the stairs before the door was pulled open and she was wrenched up by her arm.

"Get up, Mudblood." The man said. It was Nott. It was always him that grabbed her and took her to be tortured. He pulled her roughly down the corridor and into what was once the entrance hall for the house, but it didn't really resemble that any longer.

There was debris and rubble everywhere. The main staircase didn't exist anymore except for a few steps at the top. There was a huge hole where the front door should have been. Hermione looked up and found she could see through the ceiling, through the bedroom above and into the night sky.

"Look at what your precious little resistance have done to my house." He snarled at her, his face an inch away from her own. "This is because of you. I'm sure of it."

He pushed her away into the centre of the room.

"Crucio!" he yelled. The all too familiar pain of the Cruciatus curse filled every nerve in Hermione's body. But just because it was familiar did not mean that it hurt any less. She felt like every cell was on fire or exploding. Like every atom in her was being cruelly turned inside out. It felt like it went on for hours though it can only have been a minute or so. She heard a scream but didn't realise it had been her until after the pain stopped as suddenly as it had started. But she still felt the effects of it. Every muscle seemed to be reverberating with the pain. She tried to stand again but she couldn't get her limbs to coordinate.

"Cru-" he started to yell again but was interrupted.

"Dad, come on. We haven't got time for this. We need to go. The Dark Lord is expecting us." Theodore Nott's voice, a voice she had not heard since her time at Hogwarts.

"Just give me one minute, Theodore. This bitch needs to pay."

"No, come on. The Dark Lord has already granted us this time to get things straightened up a bit. He will not be happy if we are late. You can carry on doing this when we're there if you must. Come on." He sounded impatient.

"Fine." Nott said and walked over to Hermione. He gave her one hard kick to the ribs and she could have sworn she heard something crack as the pain ricocheted through her body. Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her up again. "You can take her. I don't want to touch this filth any longer."

He threw her at his son, who caught her as she stumbled and she heard the familiar crack of Nott disapparating.

"Come on, Granger." Theo said in a soft tone. "The Dark Lord awaits."

"Please. Please, don't take me. Let me go." She begged, knowing it would be useless. She wouldn't get very far even if he did let her go. He was holding her up now as her legs seemed to be failing to do the job.

"If I could, Granger." He sighed. "I'll try and get my father's wand so he can't hurt you again."

Hermione felt the familiar feeling of apparition as Theo disapparated, his arm still around her waist.

* * *

 **A/N:** Review and let me know what you think!

Hoping to get the next chapter up in the next couple of days.


	2. Chapter 2

"May I be so bold as to ask why the fuck I have been summoned here at 3am on a Thursday fucking morning?" Draco seethed as he marched towards his father. "I haven't been gone six hours and I get summoned back. We don't even use the Manor anymore."

"Nott's residence has been compromised." Voldemort interrupted in a cold voice and entered the room behind Draco. He walked to the head of the table and sat down. "There was an attack there not an hour ago."

"An attack? Why wasn't I summoned there to fight?" Draco asked quickly, trying to sound surprised.

"Those who were summoned managed to fight them off before you were needed." Voldemort answered. "I was informed and I have summoned everyone here. Sit down, Draco."

Draco walked to the end of the table, past his father and some other Death Eaters and took his usual seat just to the right of Voldemort. They all sat in silence as the rest of the Death Eaters started to arrive.

When the table was full except two seats, Voldemort stood up and addressed the table. "For those of you that do not know why you have been summoned here, I will tell you. We appear to have a spy among our number. Isn't that exciting?" He began to walk slowly around the table. "The Nott residence, where we had moved our meetings, was attacked tonight."

A muttering went around the table.

"Silence!" Voldemort shouted. "One of you has betrayed the rest. One of you has betrayed _me_. Fortunately, it did not cost us anything but having to return to Malfoy Manor."

"My Lord," Lucius interrupted, his voice wavering. Draco hadn't seen his father much since his mother had gone but every time he did, his father looked that much closer to death. He was shaking slightly and his pale face seemed almost translucent. "I thank you for this honour of returning here."

"Silence, Lucius. Do not interrupt me. You have not shown yourself to be a valuable Death Eater in recent months. I do not wish to bestow this honour upon you but unfortunately there is no other choice for now. If there was another place with this much protection we would all be there instead."

"I apologise, my Lord." Lucius muttered and bowed his head.

Nott stormed into the room then, clearly angry.

"My apologies my Lord. I was held up. Theodore is coming momentarily with the girl. I only ask that you let me vent my frustrations upon her later."

The girl? What girl? Draco thought. Had one of the resistance been captured?

"Naturally, naturally." Voldemort smiled and signalled to Nott to have a seat.

Theo entered the room then. It took Draco a few moments to realise what he was seeing. Theo half carrying, half dragging a limp body into the room. He wouldn't have recognised her if it wasn't for that damn hair. She was stick thin and he couldn't see her face. But that bushy, brown hair he would recognise anywhere.

Granger.

But it couldn't be. She was dead, wasn't she? Draco tried to think back to when he heard that she had died. But then, he hadn't heard it, had he? Voldemort had told him that the Golden Trio was no more. He'd assumed them all dead. He'd asked about her, sure, and people told him that they'd assumed she had died and that they'd mourned. But he'd never heard it outright from someone. Just rumours and whisperings.

He tried to remain calm, though his heart was beating unusually fast and his palms were getting clammy.

"Ah, the Mudblood returns to the Manor." Voldemort smiled.

Theo whispered something into Granger's ear and she seemed to stir a little in his arms. He let her go and she swayed on the spot slightly, before standing up straight and lifting her head to look at them all. Her face was sunken, she was all bones, but her stance still held that typical Granger defiance.

"Tell me, Mudblood." Voldemort said. Draco noticed that she didn't flinch at the word. "How does it feel to know that the resistance were right outside your door, and yet you are still trapped here with us?"

Her face remained impassive and she didn't respond. Voldemort started circling her like a shark.

"How does it feel, Mudblood, to know that they didn't rescue you, when they so easily could have?"

A few Death Eaters snickered at Voldemort's taunting. Draco just felt sick.

"They knew you were in there, you know. That's why they attacked of course." He stopped in front of her. "They knew you were in there and they left you there when it got too much. All they had to do was open that cellar door and you'd have been free. But they couldn't even manage to do that."

He traced a finger down the side of her face. Draco's nausea worsened. They didn't know she was in there. How could they have? If he didn't know, then they certainly couldn't have known.

"They didn't think you were worth the trouble after all. The only remaining member of The Golden Trio, and they didn't even bother to try and find you. Maybe they're starting to see the value of blood after all. Harry Potter's precious little Mudblood. Still in the hold of the Dark Lord. But no Potter to save you anymore, Mudblood. I hope you hadn't forgotten that he's dead."

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly now and although the fire was still in her eyes, it was diminished slightly and clouded by tears.

How had he not known she was still alive? Obviously Voldemort had been keeping her somewhere. Why hadn't he told him about her? Did he suspect him? No, he couldn't. If Voldemort had suspected him for that long, Draco would have known about it by now.

"How does it feel to know that not even the resistance want you?" Voldemort asked.

She still refused to answer. He had to hand it to her, she was still pretty brave.

"I asked you a question, Mudblood. Crucio!" he shouted.

She fell to the floor immediately, her body spasming uncontrollably.

"Crucio!" Voldemort shouted again. Her scream ripped Draco apart from the inside. He wanted to stop it. It was in his brain, tearing it to pieces, rattling his bones. He never understood what the point was in the Cruciatus curse. It was taunting. It was pointless. It achieved nothing. Draco looked around. Theo was the only one not smiling at the show, and Draco suspected that Theo felt almost as sick as he did.

Granger's breathing was laboured now. He could hear it from the other end of the room as she lay helpless on the floor.

"Seeing as the Nott residence is no longer a feasible place to keep you, I suppose we will have to find another place."

The Nott residence. How had he not realised? Why hadn't Theo told him? Draco looked at Theo searchingly, but Theo was inspecting his fingernails.

"I'll take her." Rodolphus Lestrange leered. "I know how well she got on with my Bellatrix. It would be delicious to continue Bella's work."

A few people chuckled. Voldemort stared at Lestrange for a few moments.

"No. I'm sure many of you have become quite accustomed to your little… punch bag, so it needs to remain alive. I fear if I send it home with you, it'll find some clever way of finishing itself. You tend to be careless with your pets, Lestrange. The Mudblood will remain here."

Draco looked at Theo again, and this time Theo looked back. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"My Lord." Draco spoke up, hoping his voice would not betray him. "You have seen for yourself that my father can barely keep himself alive. And since my family's house elf is long gone, I do not think it wise to leave the girl here with my father. Not if your intention is to keep her alive."

Voldemort thought for a moment and looked at Lucius, then at Granger, then back at Draco. "I suppose you are right, Draco. Since you spoke up, the Mudblood is yours now. You may keep the girl and do what you will with her. But this still does not settle the fact that we have a spy in our midst."

"My Lord," a Death Eater on the end of the table spoke up, his voice cracking. He was young, maybe only seventeen, and Draco hadn't bothered to learn his name yet. He knew he was a relative of Goyle's but his knowledge ended there. "Perhaps it was not a spy. Perhaps it was just coincidence that the resistance attacked Nott's residence."

Stupid fucking idiot.

"Coincidence, Goyle? Don't think me so foolish to believe in such things." He waved his hand. "Or perhaps, you were misguidedly trying to cover your own tracks."

"No, my Lord. I am faithful, I assure you."

"Do not lie to me! The Dark Lord knows when you lie. Was it you who informed the resistance?" he marched to the boy and pulled him out of his chair, pushing him against the wall behind him.

"No, my Lord. I promise. I am faithful to you only, my Lord." The boy panted quickly.

"Lies! _Avada Kedavra_!" Voldemort shouted. There was a flash of green light and the boy fell to the floor in a heap. "My loyal followers. Never forget my powers. I will find out who has betrayed me. And they will pay, dearly. You may go for tonight."

The rest of the Death Eaters rose and left. Only Draco, Theo and their fathers remained seated.

"Well, Nott, I said you could vent your frustrations on the girl. Be my guest." Voldemort said and left, Lucius following closely behind, muttering grovelling apologies and thanks.

Theo's father's face broke into a smile. He stood up and walked over to her, fishing in his robes for his wand. Draco looked away, not wanting to see her squirm in agony again.

"My wand!" Nott shouted. "My wand has gone! She's stolen it! Stupid. Fucking. Mudblood. Bitch." The last four words were punctuated by kicks to Granger's stomach. "Where is it?!"

He pulled her up by the throat with one hand and used his other to search her clothes. When he evidently found nothing he balled his hand into a fist and used it land a punch right across her eye.

"Father!" Theo shouted. "She obviously does not have your wand. Let's go. Stop fighting like a Muggle."

On the last word, Nott jumped and dropped Granger hastily, who fell to the floor like a bag of bones. Nott walked swiftly from the room.

"Theo, what the fuck is going on? Why didn't you tell me she was being kept in your basement?"

Theo looked shocked. "You didn't know?!"

"Of course I fucking didn't!" Draco shouted as he approached the door.

"Look I can't discuss this now, Draco. I'll visit you tomorrow evening and I'll explain." He opened the door. "Fix her ribs. Dad's got a nasty kick." He added in an undertone before he left.

Draco knelt down beside her immediately.

"Granger?" he said softly. "Granger, can you hear me?"

There was no response. He rolled her over onto her back carefully. Her eyes were closed.

"Granger? Answer me for fuck's sake!"

Her eyes fluttered slightly.

"Granger, I'm going to get you out of here, okay? But I can't disapparate inside so I'm going to heal your ribs now so I can carry you outside, okay?"

He lifted her top carefully to expose her ribs. God, how long had she been kept in Theo's basement? Draco could see all of her ribs through her skin, which was almost as pale as Lucius' had been. He could see some scars and marks from old injuries and a purple bruise was starting to form. Draco suspected Nott had had a go at her before he got here for a bruise to be forming already. He muttered a few quick healing charms and felt her ribs gently.

"Malfoy?" she muttered as her eyes fluttered open and closed again.

"Granger? Granger, stay with me. Open your eyes. Can you stand?" he asked while lifting her up into a sitting position.

"I- I think so." She said quietly.

Draco put one of Hermione's arms around his shoulders and put one of his arms around her waist as he lifted her gently to her feet. She hardly weighed a thing. They walked slowly out of the room and down the corridor towards the front door. Draco was just opening the front door when his father's voice came from the stairs behind them.

"Draco, what are you doing?"

"I'm going. What does it look like, father?" he said without turning around.

"Where are you taking the Mudblood?" Lucius said in a cold voice.

Draco clenched his jaw. "That's none of your concern."

"Tell me!" Lucius shouted.

Draco closed the front door and leant Hermione against it for support before turning around.

"You forget yourself, father. I am your superior now. I do not have to tell you anything."

"Do not pull rank on me boy!" Lucius descended the stairs. "I am your father."

Draco chuckled with malice. "Funny, how you're only my father when it's convenient, _Lucius_." He stressed the last word.

Lucius' mouth opened and closed but before he could say anything Draco began again.

"I am taking her away from here. Like I told the Dark Lord, she will not be looked after well enough here to keep her alive. For some unfathomable reason that I have not yet become privy to, the Dark Lord wishes her to remain alive."

He turned around, grabbed Hermione and exited the house before Lucius could respond. They walked for a little way in silence, Hermione's head leaning on Draco's shoulder and Draco practically carrying her. The wards extended further at the Malfoy Manor than at Theo's house so they had to walk to the front gate before they could disapparate.

"You still with me, Granger?" Malfoy asked as they approached the edge of the property.

"Mmm." She mumbled. She was obviously struggling to keep her eyes open.

"I just need you to stay awake until we get back to my place, okay, Granger? You're smart enough to do that, right?"

"Of course I am, Malfoy." She mumbled indignantly.

He smirked and as soon as he got past the front wall, he disapparated, arriving a split second later outside a two storey, double fronted, Victorian style house. They walked through the garden to the front door. Granger's legs seemed to be working by themselves now and she was holding her head up and looking around.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"This is my house, Granger. You're going to be staying here for a while." He told her as he let them both into the house.

Draco helped her up the stairs and showed her to the guest room opposite his own bedroom.

"The bathroom is the next door along, Granger." He said as he let her go and watched her walk gingerly to sit on the bed. "My bedroom is just opposite if you need anything."

She was watching him with a strange look in her eyes, like she wasn't really seeing him. He turned to leave but she called him back.

"Malfoy?" she said quietly, searching his features. "Why?"

The question seemed to embody so many different interpretations that he didn't know where to start. He'd just had probably the biggest shock of his life when he found out she was still alive and had been kept prisoner in his best friend's basement. He needed time to think this through for himself and figure out what to do with her.

"Get some sleep, Granger. We'll talk tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

She awoke at the sound of the door closing above her. Something sounded different about it today. It was like it wasn't in the right place. She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to wake up to another day trapped in the basement. She'd been having seriously weird dreams. She'd dreamt of Draco Malfoy, whom she hadn't laid eyes on in over two years. Why on earth would he have found his way into her subconscious?

She felt different today, too. Her body didn't feel as stiff as it usually did. She actually felt… comfy? She opened her eyes slowly and found that she was not in the basement at all. She was lying in a real bed, with real pillows and a duvet. She jumped up suddenly, panicking. What had happened? Why was she here? Where exactly was here? She looked around the room. There was an old dressing table and stool, a wardrobe, a bedside table and… a window! The curtains were drawn over it but she pulled them back swiftly and peered out. Despite her panicked state, the view soothed her a little. The sun had obviously just set as the sky was a pale pinky-purple colour. There were fields and trees as far as she could see. Not many of the trees had leaves left on them but there was still a lot of green.

She turned back around and sat down on the bed. What if it hadn't been a dream? Had Draco Malfoy brought her here? She noticed there was a glass of water on the bedside table and a note propped up against it that she hadn't seen before. She took the glass of water and downed it swiftly before picking up the note and reading it.

 _Granger,_

 _I'm going out. I'll be back this evening. Help yourself to food from the kitchen, although I'd advise you do not eat too much at once – your stomach may not be able to take it. There's towels and some clean clothes in the cupboard in the bathroom. Take a shower if you feel up to it. Don't try to leave – the wards won't let you._

 _We'll talk when I'm back._

 _D.M._

So it had been Malfoy. She heard footsteps outside her door then and a gentle knocking before it opened and Malfoy himself entered.

"Hey Granger." He smirked and leant against the doorframe. It had been years since she'd seen his patented Malfoy smirk but it still set her teeth on edge. "How are you feeling?"

"What the hell is going on Malfoy?" she spat.

"Manners, Granger. I have taken you into my home after all." He seemed to be enjoying this. Just like the Malfoy she remembered.

"Enough games, Malfoy. I demand to know what's going on." She said and sat up straighter, lifting her chin in defiance.

"Oh, you demand it, do you? Have you even been up yet today? I didn't have you pegged for being lazy, Granger. I wouldn't have bothered leaving you a note if I'd known you'd be sleeping all day!"

"Don't try to change the subject. I wouldn't be surprised if I slept all day because you drugged me or something."

Draco scoffed. "Drugged you? Granger, why on earth would I do something so pedestrian?"

"Enough. I'm leaving!" she stood up and stormed to the door and past Draco. At least, that's what she meant to do. She got half way across the room when her legs buckled and she fell. Draco acted instantly and caught her before she could fall to the floor.

"I don't think you're going anywhere Granger." He said soothingly. "Not until you're all fixed up."

He set her back on the bed.

"If you haven't been up at all today then you need some food. And no offence Granger but you stink. I would say take a shower but I don't think you'd make it through one without accidentally slipping and breaking your neck or something. I'll draw a bath for you and then start on some dinner. Then we can discuss this whole situation."

He left and Hermione could hear the water running in the next room. It had been so long since she'd been able to take a proper bath and wash herself properly. What was Malfoy playing at though? Why was he drawing her baths and making her dinner? It made no sense. This was definitely not the Malfoy from school.

A few minutes later Draco returned and offered her a hand to help her up.

"I'm not completely incapable, Malfoy." She rolled her eyes and stood up.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Okay, wow me then, Granger. Get to the bathroom without any help."

"Fine." She said and walked gingerly out of the room and down the corridor to the next door, Draco following closely behind. She smiled when she walked into the bathroom "See! I told you I'm not incapable."

"Very impressive Granger." Draco said sarcastically. "But I think the bath will probably be ice cold by now."

She rolled her eyes at him again. The smell in the bathroom was delightful. She turned and took a deep breath in. The air was full of steam and the warm scents of vanilla and sugar filled her nose.

"There's towels and clothes on that… thing." Draco pointed to a radiator on the wall.

"You don't know the word for a radiator?" Hermione asked, smirking.

"It's some Muggle thing so I don't need to know the word for it. There's a spare toothbrush in the cupboard above the sink. There's shampoo and conditioner on the shelf by the bath and I've detached the shower head so you can rinse your hair. It might take a while with that bloody rat's nest of yours. Did you even try to keep yourself looking nice when you were down there?"

She glared daggers at him. "Yes, Malfoy. My looks were the first thing on my mind when I was sitting in the dark wondering when they were going to just be done with it and kill me."

"Relax, Granger, it was a joke." He held his hands up innocently in front of him. "I don't have a hair brush but there's a comb in the cupboard so you can try that. Shout if you need me or bang on the floor. The kitchen is right underneath here."

"Like I'd need you, Malfoy." She muttered with contempt.

"Whatever, Granger." He narrowed his eyes. "I'll just remind you that you'd still be in that fucking basement, stewing in your own filth if it wasn't for me."

He slammed the door shut before she could respond and left her staring at the closed door. She needed answers. She thought about leaving the room and following Malfoy downstairs, demanding he tell her what was going on. But the smell of the bath and the thought of getting properly clean for the first time in months was far too enticing. She crossed to the sink and took out the toothbrush from the cupboard, finding the toothpaste and brushing her teeth vigorously. The minty taste was delicious. She was glad that the mirrors were steamed up so she wouldn't have to look at herself until she was clean. She undressed and lowered herself slowly into the bath, letting out a moan of pleasure. It was still perfectly hot. The warm water and bubble bath seemed to already be doing wonders to her aching limbs. It seemed to be drawing out the pain.

She wasn't sure how long she sat in the bath with her eyes closed, just breathing in and out slowly. Malfoy had obviously bewitched the water to stay warm and it was bliss. He yelled up to her every now and then, she guessed to make sure she hadn't tried to drown herself. She started on her hair after a while. Malfoy had been right. It took ages. It was so greasy and knotted she used nearly the entire bottles of shampoo and conditioner. It was still knotted when she gave up and started scrubbing her skin, but much less so. She scrubbed and scrubbed her skin until she was pink all over. It was a little sore, but it was therapeutic. She would not be going back to that basement and she needed to get it out of her skin. That much she knew for sure. Now she was out, she knew she would not allow herself to be put back.

She let the bath water drain around her and got up slowly to dry herself and get dressed. As she was drying herself with a towel something caught her eye. A mirror, leaning against the wall just next to the door. She hadn't noticed it before. It seemed to be impervious to the steam in the room. Hermione moved towards it cautiously and stood looking into it. She didn't recognise the girl staring back at her. She hadn't seen her reflection since she'd been captured. She seemed to have shrunk a couple of inches and her body just seemed to be bones with a bit of skin draped over them. She could see all of her ribs through her bruised skin and her collarbone and shoulder bones stuck out at odd angles. Her hips stuck out so much they looked sharp. Sure, she'd realised she was skinny, but she'd never quite realised just how thin she had become. She moved closer and studied her face. She had a huge black bruise over her left eye and temple and she vaguely remembered being hit by Nott. Her cheekbones jutted out and her jaw was much more pronounced than she was used to. As she stared at her reflection, what she'd endured all started to catch up with her. She'd felt detached while it was happening, but now, seeing the effects of it all at once… it broke her a little. She sunk to the floor and started crying.

"Granger, you've been in that bloody bath for over an hour!" Malfoy yelled from the other side of the door. "If you're not out of it in one minute I'll come in there and drag you out myself."

When she didn't respond he called again. "Granger, what are you doing in there? If you've tried to bloody drown yourself or climb out the window or something-"

"I'm fine, Malfoy!" she yelled, her voice breaking.

"Granger?" his voice was softer now. "Are you sure you're okay in there?"

"Yes. Just give me a minute to get dressed, okay?" she wiped her eyes and stood up, pulling on a pair of green pyjama bottoms and a black t-shirt that Malfoy had left out for her. They were a bit baggy, but they'd do for now. She grabbed the comb from in the cupboard and then pulled open the door. "Happy?" she said indignantly.

"Ecstatic." Draco said sarcastically. "You sure you're okay, Granger?"

"I'm perfectly fine thank you, Malfoy." She said, her face and stance set again in her typical defiant way.

"Do you feel better after that?" he asked, and she thought for a second she saw genuine concern in his eyes.

"Yes, actually, I do." She said in a small voice. "Um, thanks, I guess."

"Ooh, say it again Granger. That was so heartfelt I almost wept." Malfoy joked sarcastically.

She was ready to quip back when her stomach rumbled incredibly loudly.

"Christ, Granger. I didn't know people were capable of making sounds like that. Come on." He walked towards the stairs. "Dinner's ready."

Malfoy helped her down the stairs – she was still a little unsure on her feet – but she followed him to the kitchen confidently without his help. It was a big kitchen, with pristine counters and an island in the middle. As Hermione took a seat at a circular table at the other end of the room she noticed there were three places set.

"Is someone else coming?" she said nervously.

"Theo." Draco said absentmindedly as he scooped some vegetables out onto plates. "He should be here soon."

"Why?" she asked, quickly.

"Because you've been living in his basement and I want to know why." Draco said, using his wand to levitate the three plates of food onto the table as he walked over carrying a glass of water and two bottles of Butterbeer.

"You didn't know I was there?" she asked, unbelieving.

"I did not, Granger. So the three of us are going to sit and discuss this until we are all on the same page." Draco said and sat down, placing the glass of water in front of Hermione. She heard the front door open and close and a second later, Theodore Nott walked into the room, looking uncomfortable.

"Hey, Draco. Granger." He nodded at Hermione who immediately looked down at her plate. In truth she didn't really have anything against Theo, except that he was a Death Eater. She couldn't remember him ever torturing her like the others. She couldn't remember really seeing him that much at all actually, despite living in his basement.

"Sit down, Theo. My guess is we have a lot to get through this evening." Draco handed him one of the bottles of Butterbeer and took a swig from his own.

Theo sat down and took the bottle from Draco. Hermione started to eat, just so she had something to do.

"Hey Granger, go slow with that meal, yeah? I don't want you unloading all over my nice shiny floor just because you ate too fast and your stomach couldn't handle it." Draco said without looking at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him and carried on eating. The silence that filled the room was thick and Hermione would swear she could feel it weighing down on them all. Apparently Theo felt it too because after a few minutes he said, "So Granger, this dinner. More or less awkward than all those dates with Viktor Krum?"

She laughed. Actually laughed. "At the moment, I'd definitely say more."

"So what's he like then? The elusive Krum?" Theo seemed spurred on by her positive response, his face fell into an endearing grin and Hermione couldn't help but find it infectious. It was nice to have company. One look at Draco said he did not feel the same. They talked for a minute or so about Krum and Quidditch. It felt good. Almost normal. You know, if she forgot that she was having dinner with two Death Eaters.

"Cut the crap, Theo." Draco interrupted. "How long has Granger been in your basement?"

"225 days." Hermione answered before Theo could. "That's just over 32 weeks. Or about seven months."

Both men were looking at her, their mouths slightly open.

"Fuck." Theo said and dropped his fork to his plate and held his head in his hands. "I guess I hadn't realised it had been that long."

Draco was still staring at her, an expression in his eyes that she couldn't quite read.

"And why the fuck didn't I know about this?" Draco said through a clenched jaw.

"I swear Draco, I thought you did." Theo lifted his head. "They bring her out at the end of nearly every meeting and- and-"

"Torture me." Hermione stated without emotion. "Honestly, Malfoy, I'm surprised you never stayed. I thought torturing a Mudblood would be right up your alley."

She had tried to remain calm. Obviously Malfoy was not the person he had been at school – him looking after her was proof enough of that. But she couldn't help it. The memories were just too painful and it caused her to inject venom into her voice.

She saw his jaw clench more and his hand tighten around his fork. "I didn't fucking know you were there, Granger."

"Oh, how sad for you. Think of all the good shows you've missed because of your own idiotic lack of knowledge." She hissed.

Draco rubbed the bridge of his nose. She could tell he was trying really hard not to lose control and get angry, but frankly, she didn't give a shit.

"Theo." He said slowly. "Why did I not know she was there?"

"Like I said, they brought her out after nearly every meeting. You never stick around at the end, do you? I honestly thought that was why. We both know what we're like when it comes to people we know. I just assumed you didn't want to talk about it. We never talked about it when they captured that Brown girl, you know, Heather or Lavender or whatever her name was. He forced you into torturing Brown that one time, I thought he'd done the same with Granger and you just couldn't face her again. That's why I never mentioned it. I didn't fancy ending up like Flint after you were through with him, thanks very much." Theo said all of this relatively quickly and Hermione watched Malfoy. He had his head in his hands now, but she could see his breathing had accelerated.

"They tortured her for fucking months." He said, and his voice sounded hollow. "Why? Why did they keep her? They got rid of all the others, either killed them or bribed their family. Why didn't they do that with her?"

"I think it was like a reward thing for… him." Theo said quietly. "The Golden Trio tried to destroy his horcruxes so he destroyed them. But he takes some kind of sick pleasure in having her alive. They all do. It's like, if they killed her, they'd have no one to stick it to, y'know? What's the fun in killing people if you can't rub it in someone's face?"

Hermione was silently crying now, memories of Harry and Ron and of all the times she'd been taunted and tortured, swimming their way up to the surface. Her muscles seemed to prickle with the memory of it all.

"Granger…" Theo said. "I- I wish I could have gotten you out of there, but…" He tried to reach for her hand but she flinched away.

"Don't." she said quietly, tears still streaming down her face. "Don't you dare try and justify what I've been through. _You_ may not have tortured me Theo, but you and Malfoy are just as responsible as any of the others. Seven months, Theo. Can you even comprehend what that's been like? I don't even know if I'm sane anymore! For all I know, this right here could be some kind of elaborate alternate reality that I've created in my head as a coping method."

"How did she end up in your basement, Theo?" Draco interrupted, ignoring Hermione completely.

"I don't know. All I know about how she got there was that I came home one night and the Dark Lord was there with her crumpled in a heap on the floor."

"How did you get captured, Granger?" Draco addressed her.

"No. You're answering me first. What am I doing here? Why are you being so civil and treating me like… like… well, like a Death Eater wouldn't?"

Malfoy sighed. "You're here because the resistance attacked and damaged Theo's house. I suggested to the Dark Lord that it would be foolish to leave you in the care of Malfoy Manor if he wished you to remain alive and he dumped you on me. And as for me treating you like a Death Eater wouldn't, as you so eloquently put it… I'm just treating you like a person, Granger."

"But, why? You don't believe that I am a person. That's the whole Death Eater regime, isn't it? Mudbloods are inferior. They are not humans. They are stains on our society that need to be removed. Isn't that the whole spiel?" she narrowed her eyes at Malfoy, searching his face.

"Look, if you don't want my help, Granger, I'll take you straight back to Malfoy Manor and you can take your chances with the Dark Lord." Malfoy threatened. "How were you captured?"

She sighed and pushed some of the food around on her plate with her fork. "I'd gone to Diagon Alley to pick up a few things before leaving the country and I ended up walking straight into some snatchers. They recognised me immediately and took me straight to You-Know-Who. They tortured me and taunted me about Harry and Ron being dead. I don't know how long it lasted, but it felt like days. Then they threw me in the basement, locked the door and only took me out again when they were feeling insecure and wanted to show their power by knocking something around. Which happened to be pretty much every week."

"Why were you leaving the country?" Theo asked.

"It was March. Not long after Ron and Ginny were… murdered. I was mourning. Everyone was. The resistance had been through so much. There were hardly any of us left. We'd lost so many people. I couldn't take losing anyone else I loved so I was going to go to France or somewhere like that. Somewhere where the Death Eaters were still being held off. I thought I'd be of more use over there." Her voice cracked while she spoke and her throat and eyes were burning.

The memory of losing Ron and Ginny swam to the front of her mind and released a new wave of tears. She stood to leave the room, not wanting to give the two Death Eaters the satisfaction of seeing her misery, but Malfoy grabbed her wrist. She looked down and her wrist looked tiny in his grasp.

"You need to eat some more Granger. You need to get your strength back up." He said.

"I'm- I'm not- not hungry." She said through sobs.

He sighed and let go of her wrist. "Just go and sit in the living room, okay? Don't try and get back up those stairs by yourself."

She nodded and left. She hated him telling her what to do. But she didn't really have a choice at the moment. She didn't fancy falling down the stairs. She walked to the front of the room and sat in a chair facing out of the bay window.

* * *

As soon as Granger left the room, Theo cast a silencing charm.

"What are you doing that for?" Draco asked, taking a bite of carrots from his plate.

"So that I can ask you what the fuck is going on?" Theo snapped.

"What do you mean?" Draco looked taken aback. What was Theo on about?

"What are you on about building her strength up? Getting her strength up for what?"

"Uh maybe so that she can walk five steps by herself without falling?" Draco responded incredulously. "What's the matter with you anyway? I thought you wanted her safe! Isn't that why you shook your head at me when it was suggested she stay at Malfoy Manor?"

"Yes, but that was only because I know what your father would do to her."

"What's that supposed to mean? My father isn't going to do anything the others aren't."

"Whatever." Theo shook his head. "She would be dead or worse within a week if it was Lucius looking after her. My father didn't give a shit. I was the one that took her meals every day."

"Oh and a grand job you did at that! Have you fucking seen her? She's wearing clothes I wore when I was thirteen and they're still too big for her!"

"Are you dull, Malfoy? The Dark Lord isn't just going to send her off with you and never expect to see her again. If he was happy to do that he would have just killed her. He's going to expect you to bring her to every fucking meeting so that he and the others can vent on her. If she turns up looking healthier he's going to know something's up."

Fuck. He hadn't thought of that. Of all the things he'd thought through since he brought her home, he hadn't expected the Dark Lord to still want her. But it made sense. If he was done with her he would have killed her.

"I can't let that happen, Theo. I can't be living with the girl and watch her be tortured every week."

"Why did you agree to take her in, Draco? The real reason. You would have put up more of a fuss if it was just that the Dark Lord passed her off on you."

"It's like you fucking said, Theo. It's different for us. Are you saying you're okay with watching her be tortured every week? It would explain why you always badger me to go for drinks after meetings to get out of the house and away from her."

"Of course I'm not okay with it. But there's something you're not telling me, Malfoy." Theo said with narrowed eyes.

"No, Nott. There isn't." Draco looked him directly in the eyes. If he could lie to the Dark Lord then Theo was a piece of cake.

"Well, then what do you intend to do Draco? If you can't live with her and watch her be tortured then you've got to find somewhere else to keep her and go back to being ignorant of the whole situation." Theo said.

"No. I can't do that. I'll have to speak with the Dark Lord. Try and convince him to stop using her after every meeting."

Theo scoffed. "Good luck with that. Tell me, Draco, what flowers do you want at your funeral? Or do you want to go all sombre and not have any?"

"Fuck off, Theo. What would you do in my position?"

"You really are fucking dull tonight." Theo shook his head. "I've been in your position Malfoy! It was my basement she was being kept in, remember?"

"Yes, but you live with your father."

"What difference does that make?"

"You're telling me if you didn't live with your father you would still have kept her in the basement? I know you, Theo. If she was in your care and your care only, you would have treated her properly."

Theo sighed. "Fine! No I wouldn't have kept her down there. But I don't see how there's anything you can do, Malfoy. Short of pretending to kill her or something."

That was an idea. Draco looked at Theo. "That could work." He said quietly.

"No, no! No! That was not a serious suggestion!" Theo shouted, holding his hands up.

"It could work, Theo." The cogs in Draco's head were whirring now. He couldn't sit back and let her be tortured every week. He needed to get her strong again. She was an important part in his plan.

"And when he wants to see the body? Are you just going to stupefy her or something and just hope he doesn't think to burn her?"

"Polyjuice could work." Draco said absentmindedly, his mind working quickly to figure out any flaws in this plan.

"That is not going to work, Draco! Are you insane? He'll see right through that and then you'll be dead in a minute."

"No, Polyjuice will work. If I find someone already dead and give them her Polyjuice. He's not going to keep her for long, is he? He'll look her over, make sure she is dead and then be done with her. And he'll send the Death Eaters out on another mission to bring him another resistance member to use as his fucking stress release."

"Malfoy, listen to me. That is not going to work. It's like signing your own bloody death warrant!" Theo said slowly and clearly as if trying to talk someone down off a ledge.

But Draco wasn't really listening. He was too busy figuring out the plan. He knew Polyjuice would work. He'd done it before. He just needed to find a way to calm the Dark Lord after telling him the news. If she died in his care, no matter what from, he knew the Dark Lord would see it as his fault, and he would be punished. He just needed to figure out how to stop that from happening.

"It will work, Theo." Draco said quietly. "I've done it before."

Theo just stared at him, his mouth slightly open. "No you haven't!" he laughed after a moment.

Draco was silent.

Theo's face fell. "With who?"

"That's not important. I just need to make sure he doesn't find out so you cannot say anything. How's your Occlumency? I can obliviate your memory of this conversation if it's not what it should be."

"My Occlumency is perfectly fine. I'd be dead by now if it wasn't. You know that. I don't agree with this though, Malfoy. I think it's a stupid and reckless idea. I don't know why you're risking your life for some bloody Muggle born we knew in school."

"She's not just some bloody Muggle born though, is she? It's Granger. A third of the Golden Trio."

"Even so, Draco. I don't know what you're planning in that scheming little head of yours but I do not think it will end well. Why do you even want to get her strong again? You get her strong again and she'll fuck you over and run off back to the resistance."

That's kind of the point, thought Draco. Minus the fucking him over part.

"I can't tell you why yet. Just trust me that it is essential she remains alive and healthy. And Theo, you underestimate me if you think I'd allow her to get the better of me."

"Fine!" Theo said and stood up, throwing his hands in the air. "Fine! I've warned you though. Don't make me say 'I told you so' when this all inevitably turns to shit."

"You won't have to Theo." said Draco, also rising. "Trust me."

"Easier said than done, Malfoy." Theo sighed and left the room, Draco following him to the front door. "See you Granger!" Theo yelled into the living room.

There was no response.

"You remember what a piece of work she is, don't you?" Theo asked.

"I do, Theo. Thanks for your concern." Draco said sarcastically.

"Just saying if there was anyone that could beat you in a stubbornness contest it'd be Hermione goddamn Granger."

"Goodbye, Theo." Draco said and opened the door.

"Bye Draco."

Draco closed the door behind Theo and walked to the living room. The chair that Granger was in had its back to him. "Alright, Granger?"

There was no response.

"Merlin, Granger, you can't possibly be sleeping again!" he said as he walked towards her, grabbing a blanket off the sofa as he went. She wasn't as it turned out. As her face came into view he could see her eyes were open and looking outside. Her eyes were still shiny with tears and they looked glassy, as if she was looking but not really seeing anything.

"Granger?" Draco said softly as he knelt beside her and touched her arm lightly. The touch seemed to jolt her and she jumped and looked around.

"You scared me." She said accusingly.

"I didn't sneak up on you. You were just in another world." He said defensively. "What's on your mind, Granger?"

She scoffed. "That's a stupid question, Malfoy, even for you."

"Granger." He said through gritted teeth. "This doesn't have to be difficult, you know. We don't have to fight."

"Listen to yourself." She chuckled, humourlessly. "Do you really think that? You might be even more deluded than me. I'm fully aware of the fact that I can't leave here. And although I may be grateful to you that I'm not stuck in a basement anymore, it doesn't mean I'm happy about this situation and it certainly doesn't mean I have to make nice. We're on different sides Malfoy. We have to fight. It's what we do."

"We're not as different as you might like to think, Granger." He said quietly.

She looked at him quickly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Draco said quickly. "Come and finish your dinner. You need to eat."

"Why?" she said.

"I thought you were supposed to be the smartest witch of our age. Didn't anyone ever explain nutrition to you? You don't eat, you die." Draco said, standing up.

"I'm fully aware of the need for nutritious food, Malfoy, thank you very much. What I mean is why do you care? If it was just that You-Know-Who wants me alive you would be throwing me in a room and feeding me the bare minimum like I've had for the last several months. Why do you want to build my strength up?"

"Can't you just accept a nice gesture, Granger?" Merlin, she was difficult.

"I can. But when it comes from you or any Death Eater for that matter I'm forced to look for the strings attached."

"For Merlin's sake, Granger. I am not your enemy."

She scoffed. "That mark on your arm and the blood on your hands begs to differ."

Well, at least being locked up hadn't killed her fire.

"Fine!" he shouted and threw his hands up in the air, making her visibly jump. "Fucking starve, then! Fucking waste away for all I care."

"I already fucking am, Malfoy!" she yelled, standing up and facing him. "Have you looked at me? I feel like I could snap with one wrong move. And it's your fault. Just because you didn't put me in there does not mean that you're not responsible for it. You are responsible for every little thing that happens because of You-Know-Who being in power because you benefit from his system and you've done bugger all to change things. That makes you responsible."

He was getting mad now. Sure, he got her point about being responsible. But he had tried to change things. He was actively trying to change things. It just didn't seem to be working particularly quickly.

"You don't know anything about me." He hissed, taking a step towards her. He'd half expected her to take a step back away from him, but she remained rooted to the stop. He couldn't help but be impressed by her.

"I know enough, Malfoy. I know that you're a Death Eater, which basically tells me everything I need to know anyway. That you kill people and torture people and that you're basically an all-round shitty excuse for a person."

Draco's hand reached for his wand as a reflex and he had it pressed against Granger's throat before he even knew what he was doing.

"Do it, Malfoy." She spat. There were no tears in her eyes now, but the malicious look on her face could cut glass. "Do your fucking job like a good little Death Eater and teach me a lesson for stepping out of line or for being a Mudblood or for whatever the hell you pieces of shit Crucio people for. Come on. You've missed out on it enough times. It's just one little word, Malfoy. Then you can run off back to your precious Dark Lord and tell him what a good boy you are."

Draco looked from Granger's face, filled with fire and a kind of smug fury, to his wand pressed at her throat. Then it clicked. She needed this. If she was ever going to heal properly, she needed to get angry. And if it meant her getting healthy, he'd take all the insults she could throw at him. He was fully aware of how skilled each of them was at getting under the other's skin. He smirked and put his wand back in his pocket. He leant forward so that their faces were a mere inch or so apart.

"Not tonight, Granger." He whispered. "What would be the fun in that?"

He turned and walked towards the door.

"I'm going to bed." He said without turning around. "Eat something for fuck's sake. I really don't relish the thought of coming down to a dead body in my living room in the morning."

He walked swiftly up the stairs to his room. He had to start planning this. Polyjuice would take a month to make. That gave him a month to come up with a good lie for how she would die. What could he say? And how could he make it not his fault? Frame another Death Eater, maybe? But Theo was the only one who ever came to Draco's house, and Draco was damn sure not going to frame Theo. There had to be a way. He was just too tired to think of it.

* * *

 **A/N: Thoughts? Review and let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So this was meant to be uploaded a lot sooner but then a new job and a grim cold got very much in the way. I swear I've been popping cold  & flu tablets like they're going out of style.

* * *

The next few days passed in silence without either seeing the other. Malfoy was out in the days, so Hermione took advantage of this time to eat and shower and read. She slept for a few hours twice a day, only when Malfoy was in the house but out of his bedroom. She was always up in the nights while Draco slept. He left out a plate of food and a potion for her each night and was satisfied to see the plate was always clean by morning. She'd been happily surprised to find out that the electricity in the house actually worked. Obviously with only Draco's magic in the air it wasn't enough to mess with it all. She spent the nights sitting in the living room and reading. She'd been pleasantly surprised by what was in Malfoy's book collection, if a little let down by the small size of it. After a couple of days of avidly reading and eating normally and sleeping in a comfortable bed, she could already feel herself starting to get better. Sure, it would be slow getting back to her old self, but her mind already felt better and quicker. She'd found books from school and had been testing herself on what she could remember.

The routine all changed on the fifth night, however. Hermione went downstairs as usual and was surprised when she didn't find a plate of food left out for her. She quickly made herself a bowl of cereal and made her way to the living room to start reading. When she flicked the light on however, she saw Draco sitting in the armchair, staring at the floor, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, almost spilling the cereal. "Sorry, I- I didn't know you were…"

She trailed off when Draco looked up at her. There was something in his eyes she couldn't quite place. He looked… haunted? Was that the right word?

"I'll- I'll go back upstairs." She said and turned around.

"No, it's fine Granger." He said and his voice sounded hollow. "Please. I could use the company." And he downed his glass of whiskey before pouring himself another one from the bottle on the table beside him.

She walked into the room with trepidation, unsure of what to do. She took a seat on the sofa and placed the bowl in her lap, watching as he took another big sip from his glass.

"Um, Malfoy?" she said after a minute of tense silence. "Has something happened?"

He drained the rest of his glass and as he filled it again he said "They caught some resistance members today. They were tortured for information. _I_ had to torture them."

She gasped without meaning to.

"I really fucked up, Granger. They weren't meant to be caught."

Um, what? Isn't that what Death Eaters are meant to do? Her mind was working fast to try and make sense of what he'd said.

"What do you mean, Malfoy?" she said slowly.

"I mean I had to torture people, Granger. Real people. They shouldn't have been caught. We were supposed to be raiding an empty building. But they were still there. I thought they'd have left by now but they were still there."

It still wasn't making any sense. She wanted to fight and yell and tell him that that's what he should want. That's what he signed up for. Why didn't he want to be torturing people and finding resistance members? Why wasn't he cooperating with her expectations of him? But his expression and demeanour stopped her. She felt something… something like pity for him at that moment in time. And she had no idea why.

"Malfoy… I thought that's what you did." She said softly without looking at him. "I thought you were meant to be finding resistance members. I thought you tortured people all the time. Isn't that what Death Eaters do?"

He looked at her then. She expected him to be angry but his face still held the same expression.

"No, Granger. At least, not me." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I used to have to. But I worked my way up enough that now I don't have to bother with such menial tasks. He makes you at first. I did it to a lot of people at the start. It was them or me. I can't forget their screams, Granger. I haven't tortured anyone in ages. But he said because the raid had been my idea that I should get the honour. And if the Dark Lord bestows an honour upon you, you can't give it back."

She was speechless. She really thought Malfoy would be the stereotypical Death Eater, torturing and killing people for no reason. But he wasn't from the sounds of it.

He chuckled then. "Honour. What a fucking joke. I don't even know if any of the Death Eaters know the meaning of the word. Nothing I do is honourable. You hit the nail on the head the other day Granger. I'm just a shitty excuse for a person."

"You talk about the Death Eaters like you're not one of them." She said, putting her bowl down on the coffee table and leaning forward. She wanted to find out what was going on. Needed to find out. "Why are you part of them when you seem to think they're dirt?"

"Sometimes you have to be on the wrong side in order to do what's right, I guess."

"And what is right, Malfoy?" she pressed.

"I'd planned it Granger." He ignored her question. "The resistance were meant to be gone from that building yesterday. It should have been empty."

Something clicked in her mind. "Are you helping the resistance?" she asked, her eyes wide.

He nodded without looking at her and drained his glass again.

"Fuck." She muttered. How could she process this? Malfoy. Draco Death Eater Malfoy helping the resistance? "Why?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Granger?"

She continued to stare into his ghost-like eyes.

"I hate this. I hate myself. I hate my family. I hate everything about what this world has become. Torturing people, keeping people locked up in cellars, killing everyone who doesn't fit into a certain category. It's sick. By helping the resistance it makes it possible to live with my awful self and not feel like I need drown myself in booze every fucking night until I overdose."

She stood up then and walked over to him. She grabbed the bottle off his side table and took it back to the sofa with her. She took a swig straight from the bottle. It burned her mouth and made her eyes water. Malfoy smirked at her expression.

"I didn't expect you to be a whiskey drinker, Granger."

"Yeah, well, I'm guessing you also didn't expect me to be someone who would willingly share a drink with a Death Eater but here we are." She waved her hand as she took another swig. It made her feel warm inside.

They sat in silence for a moment before Malfoy put down his empty glass and moved to sit on the opposite end of the sofa to her. He held his hand out for bottle, taking a swig and handing it back before she did the same. It felt kind of like a dream. Here she was. Hermione Granger, a third of the Golden Trio, sharing a bottle of whiskey with none other than Draco Malfoy, powerful Death Eater. It was beyond bizarre.

"Granger?" he said quietly as she took another sip. She was getting used to the burn now. Or maybe it was just that the first few sips had deadened her mouth.

"Yes?"

"What did you do when you were down there? How didn't you lose your mind?"

She chuckled. "Who's to say I didn't?"

"I'm serious Granger. You seem to be doing just fine. I don't understand how. How can you go through that and not fall apart? How can you be so strong?"

She smiled to herself when he said that. He'd flattered her, whether he meant to or not.

"I marked every day off. And every day I'd try to find something unique about that particular number. I'd do some maths in my head. I went through all the spells I knew. I went through all the potions I could remember and the properties of their ingredients. I tried to remember little details of things. Like the feeling I used to get when I walked into the Great Hall after coming in from snow outside. Or what Hogsmeade was like at Christmas. It got repetitive. But every day I'd try and remember something new about something or someone. I knew I couldn't let them get to me and take my mind. I wouldn't let them. I'm far too stubborn for that." She lifted her chin defiantly.

Malfoy chuckled. "Sounds about right."

There was another few tense minutes of silence, during which Hermione kept the bottle firmly in her grasp. She was unsure whether the tears in her eyes were from the whiskey or her memories.

"I'm sorry!" Malfoy blurted out when she finally passed the bottle back to him. "I'm so sorry, Granger. I'm sorry I didn't know you were there and I'm sorry that they tortured you and I'm sorry that I let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts and I'm sorry that Potter is de-"

"Don't." she said forcefully. "Don't talk about Harry. Or Ron. Or any of the others."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let this all happen. I'm sorry I'm such a coward."

She was quiet for a minute as he took the bottle off her and drunk. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know whether it was just the drink in him talking either.

"Thank you." She settled on saying in the end. "I don't forgive you, Malfoy. But thank you for being sorry."

She took another swig. She liked the way it was making her head feel. Her thoughts weren't going at a mile a minute anymore. They felt slow. And she knew it was only temporary so it didn't bother her.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow afternoon." He said after a few more minutes. "Do you want me to get you anything? Clothes, food, books? Anything like that?"

She was a little shocked by the offer. She'd been expecting to be living in his hand-me-downs.

"Um, some clothes of my own. And some underwear would be good too." She blushed a little.

"Okay. I've got a list here you can add to." He patted his pockets and pulled out a folded piece of parchment and gave it to her. He got up and picked up a quill from the side table.

She read the items on the list and recognised them almost immediately.

"Are you making Polyjuice potion?" she asked, interested.

"Um, yeah." He said as he sat back down, looking impressed. She noticed he sat a little closer to her this time.

"What for?"

"Oh, I, um, need it for work. But actually, you know how before you add the bicorn horn, you get an elixir of-"

"Primum ens Melissae?" she interrupted, feeling glad that she'd remembered.

"Yeah, well, I thought I'd keep some of that for you. I don't know how much it will help, but it might give you some more of your strength back." He looked at her. She noticed his words were starting to slur slightly.

"That would be good." She said, looking back into his grey eyes. "Can I help? With the potion?"

"Of course." He was smiling at her with a strange look in his eyes. She realised she'd never seen him smile properly before, without any malice behind it. It was refreshing. It suited him. She looked back down at the list, blushing slightly. Underneath _Boomslang skin_ , she wrote _Clothes (inc. underwear)_. She was getting sick of going commando everywhere.

"A hairbrush!" she said as she wrote it down. "I swear there's still teeth from that bloody pathetic comb stuck in my hair!"

"You should have said! I can do a detangling charm for you if you want." Draco offered, taking his wand out of his pocket.

"Do you think that's a good idea when you're drunk? You might end up making me sprout hair all over my face or something!" she laughed. She knew she shouldn't be getting this comfortable around Malfoy, and she knew it was just the effects of the whiskey, but she liked how she felt almost… carefree at that point in time.

"It'll be fine!" he said, taking another swig from the bottle. "Come here."

"No." she took the bottle from his grasp and took another sip. "Definitely not. Tomorrow when you're sober, maybe I'll think about letting you."

She passed the bottle back so she had a free hand and wrote in capital letters _COFFEE._

"I need to get back on a normal sleeping pattern and coffee is going to be essential for that." She said defensively, even though Draco hadn't mentioned anything.

"So does that mean you're not going to be avoiding me anymore?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"Maybe, after what I've learned tonight, I might not find you so completely unbearable that I want to avoid any possible contact with you."

"Ooh, stop Granger, I'm positively blushing." He joked, pretending to fan his face with a hand.

"Can I help, Malfoy?" she asked, her face turning serious.

"With the potion? I already said yes." He looked confused.

"No. I mean with the resistance. I could help. I could help you come up with plans going forward." She said, excited by the idea. She turned her body so she was facing him and crossed her legs underneath her.

"I don't know, Granger." He said, warily.

"Please, Malfoy. I can help, I know I can help. It'll help me get better as well, knowing I'm doing something useful. Come on. If you've been helping the resistance reform slowly, imagine what you could do with me on board! I was better than you at everything in school. I'd be a huge asset!" she smiled smugly.

"Okay, first of all." He said, lifting a finger. "You were not better than me at everything in school. I am positive that I was better than you at Potions."

"What?" she asked, incredulously. "You cannot seriously think that! You only think you're better because Snape was so much nicer to you than everyone else."

"It's because I was better than everyone else, Granger."

"I didn't see you making Polyjuice potion in our second year." She said, as if this resolved the matter.

He scoffed. "Neither did you!"

"Yes, I did, Malfoy." Her smile broadening with her smugness. It felt good to enjoy this little bit of boasting.

"As if you fucking did! You don't learn Polyjuice until sixth year. Don't be ridiculous!"

"I did, Malfoy. It was pretty good too." You know, until she put a cat's hair in by mistake. But she wasn't about to tell him that.

"How did you manage that?" he asked, awed.

"I just followed the instructions. It's not difficult when you pay attention to detail." She said, shrugging. Honestly, she'd never understood why Ron and Harry had been so poor at Potions. If they'd just followed the instructions they'd have been fine.

He surveyed her then with an approving look.

"What was the second of all?" she asked, eager to fill the silence that had settled.

"Oh, right. Um, I can't remember." He looked away, clearly trying to think.

"So will you let me then?" she asked eagerly.

"Maybe." He said. "But only from the house. I'm not taking you out until you're fully ready. You need your strength."

"What do you mean 'taking me out'?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"To the resistance, of course."

She stopped and stared at him, her mouth slightly open. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected that. She'd thought she would just be staying here forever, until Voldemort inevitably ordered her to be killed or until she found a way to escape. She would never, in a million years, have thought that Draco Malfoy would be planning on letting her go back to the resistance.

He looked at her, obviously confused by why she was staring at him like that.

"Why are you looking at-" He started to say but she cut him off. With one swift movement she'd closed the gap between them and thrown her arms around his neck, embracing him. She felt his hands rest on her back and after a second or two she pulled away, feeling self-conscious.

She looked at the utterly bewildered expression on his face and laughed nervously.

"What was that for?" he asked, obviously still shocked by her gesture.

"I just… I didn't think I'd ever get back to the resistance. I figured you'd be keeping me here until You-Know-Who demanded you take me back and put me in another basement." Her voice cracked as she said it. She'd been waiting for him to come home one day and drag her back there, kicking and screaming.

He put a hand on her knee. "I'm not going to let that happen, Granger. Understand?"

She nodded, blinking back tears. "You know, you've changed Malfoy. I don't know how or when or why, but you have, and I like it."

She went back to thinking out loud about things she wanted to add to his shopping list, and they ended up talking for hours about nothing of real importance, neither of them noticing the walls they had both built weaken slightly in each other's company.

* * *

Draco's head was pounding. He tried to open his eyes but shut them again immediately when he was met with a blinding light. His neck and back were stiff. Why had he thought it was a good idea to sleep downstairs? He began to open his eyes slowly and let them adjust to the light. That was when he realised Granger was right next to him. She was sleeping peacefully, her head rested on the arm of the sofa and her body stretched out along it in front of Draco. He'd been sleeping behind her, his head resting on her hip bone, which in hindsight, had been a bad idea considering how bony she still was. Draco rubbed his temple where he'd been leaning against her.

He didn't remember falling asleep. He didn't remember much actually, after her grabbing the bottle of whiskey off his table. He pushed himself up a bit and noticed the nearly empty whiskey bottle on the coffee table. Fuck. They'd drunk nearly an entire bottle between them. That would not be good for Granger in her state. He guessed her tolerance would be a hell of a lot lower than his given her size and the fact she obviously didn't drink very often.

As he sat up, she started to stir. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. Her black eye from Theo's dad had faded to a greenish-yellow now. She rolled over towards him and he could see the change in her face as she woke up. Her face went from peaceful and happy to clearly pained and uncomfortable. She groaned, and he couldn't help but smile at the fact that she was obviously sharing in his hangover. Misery loves company, after all.

"My head." she mumbled as she lay an arm over her eyes.

"Feeling fresh, Granger?" he tried to sound like he was fine, but his croaky voice betrayed him.

She groaned and rolled over again, hiding her face in the back of the couch.

"Why's it so bright in here?" she said thickly through the cushions.

"That would be a thing called the sun, Granger."

She mumbled something then that sounded a lot like "Fuck off, Malfoy."

With difficulty, as Granger showed no sign of moving, he managed to extricate himself from her legs and stand up. They'd left the curtains open last night and the sun was at such an angle that it was shining directly and insistently into the room. He walked slowly to the window, his head pounding more since he'd stood up, and pulled the curtains closed. Instantly the room darkened and his headache eased a fraction. He walked to the kitchen, his throat begging for a glass of water. He pulled out two glasses and two vials of purple potion from the cupboards in the kitchen and took them back into the living room.

"Granger. Move your sodding legs would you? You're taking up my whole entire couch there."

She moved her legs but did not turn over, and when Draco sat down, she lifted her head just enough to say, "Do you have to be so goddamn loud?"

Draco chuckled. "Here, Granger. Drink this. I promise it will stop making you feel like your head is in a vice."

She rolled over onto her back and opened one eye. "What is it?"

"Hangover cure. I promise it's safe." He said at seeing her sceptical expression. He used his wand to fill the two glasses with water and then emptied one of the vials into his mouth. It was sweet and as soon as he'd swallowed it, his headache began to ease a little more. He sighed and leant back in the chair, taking sips of water.

"Gimme." Granger said and held out her hand. She took the vial off him and downed it before drinking half the glass of water. After a second she let out a moan of pleasure. "Oh my God. What is that stuff?"

"It's _Capitis Cura_. Headache cure. I'll teach you how to make it if you want. Judging by what's not left in the bottle, I'm guessing you enjoyed the whiskey?"

"Merlin." She looked at the bottle on the coffee table. "But yeah, once you get past the horrible burning and the terrible taste and smell, it's not so horrifically awful."

He chuckled. "It's an acquired taste. I'll start on breakfast."

He stood up and went to the kitchen. He didn't realise she'd followed him until he looked up from cracking eggs and saw her standing by the back door, staring outside. As he charmed the eggs to whisk themselves and placed two pans on conjured flames, he watched her. He couldn't quite place the expression on her face. It was something like longing.

"You can go outside, you know." He said.

Her head spun around to face him. "What?"

"Yeah. The wards extend to the edge of the grounds, not just the house. My father showed me how to do it. It's how the Manor is protected."

"That's really hard magic to do." She said, eyeing him carefully.

"Like I said, my father showed me how. I'm not sure I'd be able to replicate it without his help." He said as he added bacon to one of the pans and the whisked eggs to the other.

"What would happen if I tried to pass the wards?" she asked, curiously.

"I don't think you'd be able to. It's like how you physically can't apparate inside them. You just wouldn't be able to cross them."

"So how does it keep me in?" she asked, walking over and sitting on a stool at the counter.

He eyed her suspiciously. "Not thinking of making a break for it, are you Granger?"

"No. I know I wouldn't make it far without help. It's not like I'd trust myself to apparate yet. I don't have a clue where any of the resistance are. So I'm stuck here until you take me to them."

Until he takes her to them? How did she know he was planning on doing that?

Then the details of the previous night ran through his head. Telling her he was helping the resistance and agreeing to let her help too. Telling her about the Polyjuice and arguing over who was better at Potions. Telling her he was planning on taking her to the resistance when she was strong enough. Hugging her. He'd been so shocked by it. How could she even stand to be around him? Let alone touch him? Probably just stupid Gryffindor bravery.

"Oh, yeah." He mumbled.

She looked worried. "You are still planning on taking me back aren't you?" she said hurriedly.

"Yes, of course. I just… I'd forgotten I'd told you. I hadn't planned on telling you yet."

"Well, I'm glad you did. It makes me feel a lot better about staying here." She said matter-of-factly and got up to walk around the counter and stand by him. For a second, Draco thought she was going to hug him again and something in his stomach flipped. But she just grabbed the whisk off the counter and started stirring the eggs.

"So how does it keep me in?" she asked, going through one of the drawers and pulling out a pair of tongs to flip the bacon over with.

"It's set up so that anyone can enter or leave if I'm with them, but only specific people can without my presence. And it doesn't work if I'm unconscious, Granger, before you go getting any smart ideas." He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"As if I would." She said mock-innocently, her eyes wide and a slight smile gracing the corner of her lips. Then her face fell and as she turned away she mumbled, "As if I could."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Granger. You'll get your strength back. Although actually, thinking back to that slap you gave me third year, maybe that's not such a good thing for me."

She laughed. "Merlin, that felt good. I wish I'd done it more often! Harry and Ron couldn't believe I'd-"

She stopped suddenly and turned her face away. He could tell she was crying. He looked away from her. He longed to tell her about Weasley. He knew he'd have to eventually, but it was too early yet. She'd only end up trying to run off.

"Hey." He took the whisk out of her hand. "Go and sit down. I'll dish up."

She nodded silently and went to sit at the table.

"Eat up." He said as he put the plate in front of her. He tried to inject his voice with a little enthusiasm, to try and cheer her up. "Bacon and eggs is THE best hangover food."

When he caught her eye, she gave a feeble smile, but her eyes were still shiny with tears.

"How many days have I been here, Malfoy? This is the sixth day, right?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Um, yeah the sixth day. Why? Please tell me you're not marking off each day here as well?" The thought hurt him a little.

"No I'm just trying to figure out… so it must be nearly November, right?" she asked.

"It's the 24th of October today." He said.

"Two months until Christmas eve." She smiled wistfully, but it faded as soon as it had appeared. "This will be the first Christmas in years that I haven't spent with the Weasleys. We'd barely got used to not having Harry around and now…"

Her tears returned, more forcefully this time. He didn't know what to do. He'd never been very good with emotion. He'd always been taught it was a weakness, something to be disgusted by. But she did not disgust him. Part of him wanted to get up and leave her to her misery. Part of him wanted to make a joke or a snide comment. And a small part of him wanted to pull her into his arms and have her wash her pain and misery out onto him as he held her tightly. But he attributed that small desire to just being uncomfortable around emotions and pushed it to the back of his mind.

She quickly composed herself again and he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"So the Polyjuice will be ready by the end of November?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. So long as I can find Fluxweed that was-"

"Picked at the full moon." Hermione finished for him with a smile.

He was impressed. He still wasn't sure whether he believed her about brewing the potion in their second year or not, but she was undoubtedly knowledgeable on the subject.

"When is the next full moon? Just in case you can't locate any." She asked, taking another mouthful of eggs. Her plate was nearly finished, whereas his was almost untouched. He didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he was sure she already looked less thin. Maybe it was just because her skin was a better colour and the circles under her eyes were not so pronounced.

"Two weeks." He said, grudgingly.

He wanted to get the Polyjuice brewed as soon as possible. He knew Voldemort would be wanting her back to torture soon, and he hadn't thought of a convincing enough lie for when that time came. He knew he could not take her back. He would not put her through that. A voice in the back of his mind pressed him to ask why he was so protective of this one particular witch. _Would he be acting this way if it was anyone else?_ The small voice asked. Of course he would. He hated Voldemort's tyranny and he would have saved anyone else. _But would he have brought anyone else to his home to live?_ The small voice pressed again. He honestly didn't have an answer. Would he have? If it had been any other Hogwarts student, he was sure he would have saved them, but bringing them to his home? That was something different. He reminded himself that Granger was far from just any other Hogwarts student. That was what had gotten her captured in the first place. She was important to the resistance. If she were returned, strong and willing to fight, with her head full of plans, it would be just the morale booster and push that the resistance so direly needed.

* * *

 **A/N:** Don't forget how much I like reviews! Let me know what you're thinking so far :)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for following and faving and reviewing! I love to hear what you guys think so keep it coming!

* * *

When Voldemort won the Battle of Hogwarts, it still took a few years to settle everything. Muggle Britain had only come under Voldemort's control in the past two years. He had wanted to be sure he had full control of the British wizarding world before attempting to control the Muggles. They didn't know they were being controlled of course. The political leaders had all been subject to the Imperius curse. There had been a lot of protests at first from the public, but they died down slowly when each protest ended in horrific scenes of violence. Britain basically became a totalitarian state, England was shut down first, then Wales and Scotland followed shortly after, and Ireland shortly after that. They still got imports from other countries but they were strictly controlled. The Muggles had no idea that it had anything to do with Voldemort. They still didn't even know about the wizarding world – though there had been some conspiracy theorists. Voldemort didn't want any of them to know just yet. He had his Death Eaters use the Imperius on any political leaders from other countries who tried to stop the Prime Minister and the Queen shutting everything down. It took a surprisingly short amount of time for Britain to be cut off from everywhere else. Draco had been slightly impressed – though disgusted all the same – that Voldemort had pulled it off so quickly.

Voldemort had taken on hundreds and hundreds of morally ambiguous wizards, witches and even Muggles (to Draco's surprise) to be in control in each county. The wizards and witches knew who they were working for of course, but the Muggles didn't.

Draco and Theo found themselves in Muggle London that day, after successfully purchasing all the potions ingredients they needed from various shops on both Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. They had spread out the purchases among the shops so as not to arouse suspicion, lest it get back to the Dark Lord. Draco thought Muggle London would be better to get Hermione clothes. If he was seen buying ordinary women's clothes in the wizarding world, there would be questions. Draco Malfoy did not get attached enough to anyone to warrant him buying them clothes.

"This is getting ridiculous now, Draco. We've been in here for ages. Just pick something." Theo said, exasperated.

"It's difficult, okay?" Draco argued. "There's a bloody lot to choose from."

"You should have known that anyway. If there's one thing we learnt about women's clothes from Pansy it's that there is a hell of a lot of choice."

"The thing that sticks in my mind was that lecture on the difference between a sweetheart and a boat neckline."

"All I know about women's clothes I know from that girl." Theo chuckled.

Draco continued to flick through the rack of clothing.

"Mate, she's hardly a Greengrass. She's just going to be happy she's not in hand-me-downs anymore. Why are you putting so much effort into this?" Theo narrowed his eyes at Draco.

"I'm not. I just want her to be comfortable." He said defensively. "What exactly are you implying, Theo?"

"Nothing, mate. Forget I said anything." Theo muttered. Maybe in a couple of weeks, he'd push it again, but he knew to drop it for now. "In all seriousness though, can you hurry it up a bit? I'm fucking starving. Just grab a pair of jeans and a couple of jumpers. She'll be fine with that."

Draco sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fine."

"Remember all that stupid Muggle stuff she used to wear that Pansy always used to take the piss out of?" Theo joked, trying to lighten him up a bit. "We're in a Muggle shop, so she'll feel at home with whatever you get her, Drake."

That did the trick. Draco smiled and clapped Theo on the shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

They bought a few jumpers and some jeans and leggings for Hermione before apparating back to Draco's house. They walked into the house and Draco dumped the bags on the sofa in the living room.

"Where is the infamous Granger, then?" Theo asked, as they walked into the kitchen.

"Sleeping most likely. She probably didn't sleep great last night." He admitted.

"How come?" Theo asked.

"Well, um, we kind of fell asleep on the couch. It's not the most comfortable." Draco said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Theo's eyes widened and he exhaled, loudly, sending his fringe blowing up in the air.

"You fell asleep with her?" he asked slowly, and sat down at the table, eyeing Draco carefully.

"Well, she was drunk. We both were." Draco said defensively. "It wasn't deliberate."

"She was drunk?!" Theo asked incredulously. "I thought you were supposed to be looking after her? That can't be good in her state, surely, Draco!"

"She wanted to!" Draco raised his voice. "It wasn't like I made her drink! My mind was just fucked after all the shit that went down yesterday. And then I told her about-" he stopped abruptly.

"About what, Draco?" Theo asked, narrowing his eyes again.

"Just about how I don't like doing that stuff. You know that Theo. You hate it too." He dismissed, cursing himself for almost spilling to Theo.

"So you got drunk with her and fell asleep together on your couch?"

"Why does it even matter to you, Theo? Why are you making such a thing of it?"

Theo surveyed Draco for a few moments, taking in his stony mask.

"I know there is something you're not telling me, Draco. Which is fine!" Theo raised a hand as Draco started to interject. "It's your prerogative. Frankly, if you're keeping it from me then it's probably really bad so I'm probably better off not knowing. But you're playing with fire, getting close to her. And I'll tell you this once, and then I'll drop it, because I know you're going to get mad at me if I bring it up again. You're playing with something a lot worse than fire if you let _her_ get close to _you_."

"I'm a wizard and a Slytherin, Theo." Draco smirked. "I can handle a little fire."

"Whatever you say Draco." Theo sighed. "And she's not sleeping."

"Why do you say that?" Draco quirked his eyebrow.

"Because she's sitting out there." Theo pointed at the French doors. Draco walked towards them and looked out.

She was sitting a little way away from the house, with her back to them and her caramel coffee curls hanging down below her waist and blowing slightly in the breeze.

"What's she doing, do you think?" Theo asked, as he came to stand next to Draco.

"She hasn't been outside in seven months, Theo. What do you think she's doing?" Draco shook his head. "Put the kettle on, will you? I'm going to check on her."

He slid the doors open and walked across the grass to where she sat. He observed her for a moment when he was close, before he announced his presence. She was just staring straight ahead, past the fence that bordered his property, and into the woods beyond. There were daisies littered on the grass around her. He cleared his throat and sat down beside her, leaning back on his arms.

"Alright, Granger?" he greeted.

She sniffed in response.

"How are you doing?" he asked, his voice taking on a serious tone.

"Okay, I guess." She shrugged.

She was quiet for a minute, as she tore up some clumps of grass in front of her. Draco found it very hard to hold his tongue and not scold her for it. He didn't need her ruining his garden, thank you very much.

"How was your day?" she asked, after a moment, not taking her eyes off the grass she was pulling up.

"Not too bad, thanks. We managed to get everything on the list. Including coffee."

He saw a faint smile ghost over her lips.

"It's good coffee, too. It was Blaise's favourite, and he knows good coffee." Draco rambled on.

"That's true." She smiled to herself.

He gave her a quizzical look and was going to ask her how she knew that when she interrupted him.

"You have a greenhouse!" she turned to him, her eyes alight.

"Um, yes." He said, confused. "What about it?"

"I never thought you would have been into Herbology." She smirked at him.

"I'm not Longbottom, Granger." He sneered. "I use it to grow potions ingredients, mainly."

"And the corner with all the herbs and spices?" She was still smirking at him.

"So I like to add some flavour to my food! What's the big deal?" he said defensively.

"Nothing." She smiled. "I just never expected Draco Malfoy to be interested in Herbology or gardening. It's weird. I'm seeing this whole other side to you I never knew existed."

Something shifted in his stomach when she said that, and he felt his face heat a little, though he was careful to hide it under a sneer.

"Come on, Granger. Theo's got the kettle on." He said as he stood and offered her a hand.

He watched, for a brief moment, as she seemed to assess whether to take his hand or not. She decided, not to give him her hand, but to grip his wrist in her hand. He instinctively gripped her wrist back and pulled her to her feet, wondering whether she realised they were touching in the same way as needed for an Unbreakable Vow. Probably not. He was probably reading too much into it, but that was a hard habit to break, after all.

"Are you okay with Theo being here? I know I'm a dick for not asking you that the other night. But I'll ask him to leave if it's too hard." He said softly. She was shivering slightly, he noticed.

"You are a dick for not asking me the other night." She scolded. "But, I guess, if I'm going to be here for a little while, I may as well make the best of a bad situation. I guess after what I learned about you last night, and what he was like the first night, if you're that close with him, I can't imagine that he's a Death Eater through and through."

"He's not." Draco interrupted fervently. She needed to understand that neither of them were a threat to her.

"Well, then I suppose, for the moment, I can be civil with you two if you are with me." She said slowly, as she turned and walked towards the house.

"Excellent." He smiled and followed her into the kitchen, where Theo had laid three steaming mugs of coffee on the dining table.

"Hi Theo." She said awkwardly.

"Granger." Theo nodded. "How do you take your coffee?"

"Oh, um, milk and sugar please." Draco watched her as her face flushed a little.

"Same as me. Draco on the other hand, takes his black. When he has any at all."

"I just prefer energy potions to caffeine." He replied, as he picked up a mug and swirled the dark liquid around.

"Yep, that's Draco. No sugar and black as the Dark Mark." Theo chuckled.

Draco stopped and looked at Granger. He didn't think she would take very well to someone joking about the Dark Mark. Not after everything. But to his surprise, her lips turned up in a faint smirk and she took the seat opposite Theo.

He watched as they began a rather stilted conversation, starting with how her mother used to berate her aunt for taking her coffee black, how she used to tell Hermione that if she drunk black coffee, her teeth would stain horribly. He sat down and joined in quickly, and it didn't take long for the conversation to go from stilted to easy and he soon forgot what they'd even talked about.

An hour or so later, while Theo made a start on dinner, Draco led Hermione to the locked room, next to the kitchen.

"I thought we could make a start on the Polyjuice now. This is my Potions lab, of sorts." He said as he led her into the small room. It was dark, like the Potions classrooms had been. It was deliberate. He felt it helped him concentrate without having obnoxious lighting or windows to get distracted by.

She stood in the middle of the room, taking everything in. He suspected she may be reminiscing about school.

It only lasted a moment though, before she turned to face him and said "Bring me the ingredients and the book. You'll need to start stewing the lacewing flies first off."

And there she was. Hermione Granger. The bossy, know-it-all, swot he'd known and mocked in school was standing in his Potions lab. And he couldn't be happier to see her there. _I really could help her,_ he thought. _She will get better and then she can go back to the resistance and she'll be a Godsend for them. And I can have a hand in helping this world get better._

* * *

When they'd had dinner and after Theo had left, Draco got to work on telling Hermione just how much he knew about the resistance. She was the perfect student, he thought. She kept listening and taking notes and didn't even flinch when he told her how many of her friends were dead. His feelings of guilt crept up with each name he rattled off to her. After two hours, they decided to call it a night and they both went to bed, a little more hollowed out than they had been before he had recited the list of the dead.

* * *

It was around two hours after they had gone to bed, that Draco woke needing the toilet. He noticed, on his way back to his room, that Hermione's door was open, and he peeked inside to find she wasn't there. He stumbled downstairs, still in the grips of sleep. She wasn't in the living room, or the lab, or the kitchen. He was just about to start panicking when he glimpsed her through the French doors. She was lying in the grass, curled on her side. He walked quietly outside and swiftly to her. He looked down at her for a minute as she slept, peacefully, breathing in and out steadily. It was not the time of year to be sleeping outside. That time of year didn't really exist in Britain anyway. He picked her up, being careful not to wake her and took her inside. Instead of taking her back to her room, he transfigured one of the dining chairs into comfortable two seater sofa. She only stirred a little as he did so and then he lay her across it, so that when she woke in the morning, she'd wake to the view of the outdoors.

* * *

 **A/N** **:** I know this is kind of a filler chapter, which is why it took so long to upload. I had the next chapter written weeks ago, I just hadn't figured out how to link to it yet! So apologies if this is shit! And hopefully I'll be uploading the next chapter soon.

But you know the drill - Review review review!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thank you guys again for all the follows and faves! And thanks so much to sierraemilie, ErikaNeubert, Krumpingxballeri, OneOddOod, Frogster and lynnchan111 for the reviews! Legit makes my day when I see it :) But anyway, onto chapter 6!

* * *

The next couple of weeks went much the same. Draco would be out most days, while Hermione read up on various spells and potions, anything that might help the resistance. When he came home, Theo was usually in tow. Hermione and Theo had quickly warmed up to each other after their second successful encounter. Draco and Hermione would check on the Polyjuice potion. Hermione noticed Theo always looked warily at her and Draco when they mentioned it. She had yet to ask why. They had successfully created Primum ens Melissae and it had done Hermione a world of good.

Theo was rarely absent from a meal time, saying his father had become nearly unbearable and was now taking his pent up aggression out on anything that moved, Theo included. One of them would cook and the other two would help. They taught each other different recipes. It was nice, Hermione thought, to have a semblance of friends again. When she didn't think about what Draco and Theo did when they left the house, she found herself very happy in their company. After dinner they would often sit in the living room and read or talk. They reminisced occasionally bout their time at Hogwarts, but it often led to Hermione becoming very quiet and blinking away tears.

Then Theo would leave and the pair would go to the study and pore over the information they had with regards to their resistance plans. Draco would go through any new information he had gained. Hermione listened intently and made extensive notes. When either came up with a new idea, the other would point out the flaws and they'd argue for a while and then begrudgingly toss the idea away. Then when they couldn't take any more, usually around midnight, they'd retire to the living room and talk for a while longer.

Neither of the pair realised, that each night, their walls weakened a little more. Hermione couldn't pinpoint when exactly she had become so comfortable in Draco's presence. She hadn't admitted it to herself yet, but she was beginning to trust him. He trusted her wholeheartedly. It hadn't taken him long. He often found himself watching her with avid fascination. She was so strong and intelligent. She often caught him watching her, and when she did, she'd blush and they would exchange a grin.

In the back of their minds, they both knew they were getting too close to one another. Draco tried to shut down his feelings for her, with little success. He repeatedly told himself that she was just a part in the plan to bring the Dark Lord down. But he still couldn't shake the feeling of something more. Hermione was still unsure of her feeling towards him. She knew he was her ticket back to the resistance, but she also knew he would not be joining her, and the feelings that came with that thought… she could not explain. She didn't want to be apart from him. She supposed it was because he was one of the only friends she had right now, but then she didn't feel that way towards Theo. She liked Theo, sure, but she knew exactly what her feelings for him were. Friendship. Nothing more.

Despite the fact that Hermione had vowed to make the best of a bad situation, they still bickered. A lot. Theo was usually there to calm them down. He knew exactly how to deal with Draco in a temper and was slowly learning how to calm Hermione down. It was always worse when he wasn't there to be mediator. It always got personal when he wasn't there.

They were up late talking one night towards the end of November. They were discussing their very different Christmases. Apparently, Christmas was not so avidly celebrated in the Malfoy household. Hermione was shocked when he told her that his Christmases just consisted of a lonely tree in the entryway and some presents left on his bed. Hermione told him all about the way the Gryffindor common room was decorated at Christmas time and how they'd decorated Grimmauld Place. He watched her, without taking in much of what she was saying as he was far too captivated by her eyes. They were shining, but not with tears. They were lit up, the colour seemed more pronounced, and it made her look even more beautiful.

"Will you let me decorate in here?" she asked.

"I suppose you're not going to let it go until I say yes, are you, Granger?" he rolled his eyes as she nodded, still smiling.

She beamed and continued to gush about her Christmas traditions.

Draco awoke a couple of hours later. They had both fallen asleep on the couch again.

"Hey," he whispered as he stood up. "Granger."

She stirred and opened her eyes slowly. He offered her a hand to help her up and she took it. Without either really realising in their sleep addled state, their fingers intertwined and Draco led the way from the room and up the stairs. When they were on the landing outside their rooms it seemed as though neither wanted to part.

"Goodnight, Malfoy." Hermione said first and squeezed Draco's hand in hers.

"Night, Granger." He said, and leaned down to place a chaste kiss on her forehead. Their hands broke apart and they each went to their separate rooms.

* * *

The Polyjuice was nearly ready by the end of November. Hermione anticipated it was going to be an almost perfect batch, even better than the one she'd brewed in second year. Draco was still being particularly vague on the details of why he needed it, but she knew not to push him on it too much. He rarely liked to talk about anything to do with his Death Eater duties.

It was 3 o'clock when Hermione heard the front door open and close and then heard footsteps downstairs. She'd been sitting in bed reading up on defensive spells in _Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts_. She thought it odd for Draco to be home early. He rarely returned until the evening. She didn't know what caused her to do it but she hid the book under the mattress. Something about the footsteps and the noises she could hear didn't feel right. They didn't sound like Draco or Theo. She listened carefully and heard footsteps on the stairs. The door was thrown open a second later by Lucius Malfoy.

His skin was almost grey and his face was sunken in a little. He smiled maniacally, however, when he saw Hermione.

"Well, well. We're reunited at long last, Miss Granger." He said quietly. He moved into the room, eyeing the surroundings. "My son seems to be looking after you a little too well from the looks of things. I wouldn't have bothered to give filth like you such a well-furnished room."

She watched him, unblinking as he walked across the room to her.

"We have missed you at our meetings, Mudblood. It hasn't been half as fun without you." He drawled and sat down on the bed.

She shuffled into the corner, trying to get as far away from him as she could. It felt like a nightmare. She hadn't seen another Death Eater apart from Draco and Theo since she'd got out. Lucius Malfoy was going to take her to Voldemort. She knew it.

"I see you're looking a lot more nourished these days. Draco must be treating you very well." He reached over and lifted up her top. She cringed and slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me." She said through gritted teeth.

He reacted so quickly she didn't have time to stop him. His hand closed around her neck and he dragged her off the bed and threw her up against the nearest wall. Her head hit the wall so hard that her vision went blurry and dots danced in front of her eyes.

"Don't you dare talk to me in such a way, Mudblood!"

His face was an inch from hers and his eyes flashed maliciously. He looked deranged. He was holding her neck so tight she was having trouble breathing. Then his eyes returned to normal and he loosened his grip a little. She was breathing heavily and he watched her chest rise and fall for a moment before lifting her top again and inspecting her ribs. She tried to pull her top down but he tightened his grip on her throat.

"If you don't stop protesting, I'll be forced to do this the hard way and use the Cruciatus on you to calm you down."

She stopped struggling at the mention of the Cruciatus curse. She anticipated she'd be in for a lot of it when Lucius delivered her to Voldemort and she didn't want to go through any more than she had to.

Tears were swimming in her eyes now. She could hardly breathe with his hand wrapped around her neck. Where was Draco? Lucius traced a finger across her ribs and she cringed.

"You look a damn sight better now though, Mudblood. You don't suit skeletal."

"Neither do you and yet you seem to be sporting the look." She spat.

He growled, dangerously. "You're a damn piece of work. You were certainly a lot quieter when you were in Nott's care. I'll have to have a word with Draco on how he treats his captives. I think he's being rather soft."

He tightened his grip on her neck again and cut off her air supply quickly. She struggled for breath as she felt his hand tighten further. She tried to claw at it to get him off her but he persisted. Her head felt light and her vision was starting to go. Just when she thought she might pass out, he dropped her, and she landed in a crumpled heap on the floor. She sucked in a huge lungful of air and breathed out slowly.

"Get up filth." he spat, towering above her.

She couldn't move. She still felt dizzy and she hadn't caught her breath yet,

"I said GET UP!" he shouted and his boot collided with her knee. Pain ricocheted up and down her leg and her knee cap burned.

He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her roughly to her feet.

"Move!" he shouted and pushed her out of the room, his wand trained on her back.

She limped across the landing and down the stairs, the pain in her knee worsening with each step. He stopped in the hallway and leaned against the wooden cupboard to scribble something on a piece of parchment that he produced from his robes. When he was finished, he left it there and pushed her roughly outside. Tears were streaming down her face and blurring her vision. She needed Draco. He would stop this, surely.

"Hurry up! The Dark Lord grows impatient." He spat as he swung the door shut behind them.

"I can't go any faster since you kicked my knee in!" she spat back, and immediately regretted it when he grabbed a handful of her hair again and pulled her after him. He was walking too quickly for her to keep up very well.

She was screaming as he marched to the boundary of the wards. The pain in her knee was excruciating now and she thought he might pull her hair out. She was in so much pain she didn't even realise they'd got to the edge of the boundary until she landed haphazardly on the ground outside the gates to Malfoy Manor.

She was thankful that he pulled her up by her arm this time instead of her hair. He had her upper arm in a vice-like grip and he pulled her along after him, up the drive towards the Manor and then through the front door and the entrance hall and into the all too familiar dining room. He pushed her to the floor when they entered the room and she landed awkwardly on her knee, doubling the pain. When she looked up, she saw the long table was half full of Death Eaters. She tried looking for Draco or Theo, someone that might help. But neither of them were there. She shut her eyes tightly in the hopes they would all disappear.

"Ah, well done, Lucius." A cold, high voice came from the other side of the room. "From the looks of your right hand, she put up a fight?"

"It is nothing, my Lord. Just a few scratches. You could hardly call it a fight." Lucius said.

"Sit down then Lucius."

She heard the shuffle of his robes as he swept past her.

"It's rather nice to see you back here Mudblood." Voldemort's voice was closer this time. "I must say we've missed you terribly."

A few of the Death Eaters sniggered.

"Draco seems to have been wanting to keep all the fun to himself. Tell me, does he torture you much?"

She didn't reply. She couldn't. Her voice would be thick with tears and she wouldn't let them have that satisfaction.

" _Crucio_." Voldemort drawled lazily. Her head exploded with pain. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. Her body was shaking. She was screaming.

Then it stopped suddenly and she was pulled to her feet. She opened her eyes and was met with Voldemort's face, an inch from hers, his red eyes burning.

"I asked you a question Mudblood. Does he torture you?"

She knew she had to cover for him. She couldn't tell them the truth. She was surprised Voldemort hadn't extracted the answer from her brain by now. But no, he didn't particularly care what the answer was. His goal was humiliation.

"Every few days." She said quietly, and her voice broke as tears streamed down her cheeks.

His face broke into a maniacal grin.

"Excellent, excellent."

He let go of her and she just managed to stay standing.

"Draco has been having lots of fun without us. I think it only fair I offer you all the chance to catch up."

She watched as the Death Eaters around the table all stood up and walked towards her. No. This couldn't be happening. Not again. She had been so convinced she had gotten away from all of this that it hurt all the more to know what was coming. It was a nightmare, surely. Just a nightmare. As soon as one of them hit her with the curse she'd wake up.

But she didn't.

Nott was the first one to hit her with it. She recognised his voice.

She heard them all laughing and didn't even have time to register who hit her with the next curse.

There was a beast inside of her, scramming and biting and tearing at everything it could reach. And it could reach every part of her. She just wanted it to get out, so she wouldn't feel the pain anymore.

Then another Death Eater hit her with the curse.

And another.

And another.

She screamed until her lungs burned and her throat was in pieces.

Even between the curses now, she couldn't relish the moment free of searing pain. Her body ached with the after effects. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. All she could do was listen to them laughing and sending the Cruciatus curse her way.

Then she felt a hand wrap around her neck and she heard a voice close to her ear.

"Beg for it, Mudblood. Beg me to stop." It whispered.

She wouldn't. She didn't respond.

Then another curse hit her, and after the brief thirty seconds she'd had of being free from it, it felt so much worse. She felt her whole body spasm and heard her own hollow scream.

"BEG ME, MUDBLOOD!" the voice yelled, almost deafening her. " _CRUCIO_!"

"No, please." She sobbed. "Please stop."

"That's a good Mudblood. But I'm not going to acquiesce."

Then another round of curses hit her. One after the other.

She tried to think of something, anything to concentrate on instead. But there was nothing. Only pain and suffering.

She was sure she was not human anymore. She'd transformed into some creature that only feels pain. She wanted to die. Why couldn't she just die? Why wouldn't they hit her with the killing curse? Why wouldn't they just let her die?

But she was dying. She could feel the life leaving her.

Another curse struck her and then everything went black.

* * *

 **A/N:** I realise I have kind of skimmed over the beginning of their relationship a little bit, but I didn't want to get too bogged down in little interactions which is something I tend to do. But never fear - there's plenty of Dramione loveliness to come later on! Review and let me know your thoughts on this chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

Draco was having a long fucking day. He was on an assignment to find some plant that was supposedly an integral part of some potion that Voldemort needed. He hadn't been privy to all of the details. It was a herb called _Moly_. Many believed it to be completely mythical but it was Draco's task to find out if it was. He was in negotiations with some wizards in Greece. Rumour had it that they knew where to find such a plant. It was difficult though, not only because of the language barrier, but because the legend went that the herb was dangerous for any mortal man or wizard to pick. He suspected that this was why Voldemort was so interested in it. It was supposedly powerful for the immortal and the deathless.

After a long day of speaking slowly and making hand gestures and pointing to pictures in books and generally feeling like an insulting, uneducated idiot, he decided he would return again the next day to find a translator. It would be much too difficult to do it without one. He Apparated back to his home and was walking up the drive when Theo called his name from behind him. It had been a grey and overcast day and the evening was no different. The sky was a navy colour but no stars were visible and Draco could feel the odd drop of rain hit his face.

"How's your day been?" Theo asked as he caught up with Draco and the two men walked towards the house.

"Fucking long." Draco sighed. "I can't wait to get in and speak to people who actually speak the same language. How about you?"

"Boring as sin. I had the delightful task of traipsing up and down Diagon Alley. It was dead there today!"

Draco chuckled.

"Where's Granger?" Theo asked, as they entered the house and saw that there were no lights on.

"I don't know. Maybe outside or sleeping. I'll check upstairs." Draco mused.

Something felt a little off but he couldn't put his finger on it. He walked briskly up the stairs and to her room. He stopped short when he entered the room and saw she wasn't there.

"Draco!" Theo called from downstairs. There was panic in his voice. "Draco, get down here!"

He sprinted back down the stairs to Theo who was standing by the cupboard in the hall holding a piece of parchment. All of the colour had drained from his face.

"What is it?" Draco demanded. He hadn't let any scenarios go through his head yet. She was fine. She was safe. It was his job to keep her safe and he was good at his job. Nothing could have possibly happened to her.

Theo held out the piece of parchment. Draco scanned it quickly and didn't take any of it in. When he re-read it however, his heart seemed to stop.

 _Taken your pet to play with the Dark Lord. Don't be too late or you may miss the festivities._

 _Your Father_

He couldn't breathe. He'd failed her. She was being tortured right now, he knew it. How could he have been so stupid? He needed to get to her. He needed to stop them.

"We need to go." Draco said and stormed towards the door.

"Draco, you cannot go storming in with wands blazing! You need a plan." Theo chased after him and grabbed the back of his robes.

He spun around. "I don't have time for a plan. She's being tortured Theo! I need to get there and stop it."

"I understand that Draco. I don't want her there any more than you do. But you _cannot_ go in like this. What are you going to say? 'Stop torturing her because I fancy her'? They'll tear you a fucking new one, mate. You need to calm down before you go there."

He had a point. But every second he wasted here was another second he wasn't there protecting her.

"I'll just figure it out when I get there, Theo. I just need to get there." He carried on walking and disapparated as soon as he got to the boundary.

Images of her writhing in pain filled Draco's mind and he tried to banish them. He was practically running up the drive to Malfoy Manor, his wand ready in his hand. He stormed into the house and to the dining room. He couldn't hear her screaming, and he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ah, Draco. You're a little late, I'm afraid." Voldemort's high voice came from the other side of the room and he gestured to something lying in front of the fireplace.

It was her. She was lying on her back with her head to one side and her eyes closed. He couldn't see her breathing and for a second his knees went weak. She couldn't be dead. He wouldn't allow it. He fought the urge to run to her and remained rooted to the spot. He heard Theo enter behind him and take a sharp breath in.

"Is she dead?" he said, and he just about managed to sound like he didn't really care.

"Fortunately not." His father spoke. As soon as Draco's eyes landed on his father he stormed forward, his wand out, pointing at his father's chest.

"You _bastard_. You broke into my fucking house." He seethed. He wanted to torture his father for bringing Granger here. But he needed a legitimate reason to do it. "You stole _my_ property."

"I did not break into your house, Draco. I simply walked through the front door." Lucius replied, coolly.

"That's semantics." Draco replied quickly. He was aware that all of the Death Eaters in the room were watching him closely. He needed to get Granger out of there. But how could he do it?

"And she is not _your_ property, Draco." Lucius said again.

"The Dark Lord gave her to me. She is in my care. She is my responsibility. She is _my_ property." He cringed inwardly at what he was saying. That was one of the other things he hated about the Death Eaters. Their penchant for viewing human beings as items and things to own.

"And some _care_ she's been having, Draco." Lucius countered, a sly smile on his face. "She looks almost… _healthy_. Wouldn't you say so, my Lord?"

Voldemort had been watching the exchange between father and son with mild curiosity, looking at them over his tented fingers.

"Quite, Lucius. I fear Draco may have lost his touch, with this particular Mudblood." He said, his eyes moving questioningly to Draco.

Draco's thoughts were going fast.

"On the contrary, my Lord. I don't know what Nott's plan of action with regards to her was, but mine is different. I prefer to do all the torturing myself rather than let fear of starvation creep in to the mix." He met Voldemort's eyes and took it one step further. "Plus it was so very satisfying to build up the bitch's hope at the start and then watch it disappear."

He plastered a malicious smirk on his face and watched Voldemort. He seemed satisfied with Draco's response and Draco relaxed a little. He had always been a quick thinker. That Slytherin cunning always came in handy.

"My Lord, I understand that you always have your reasons. May I ask that you enlighten me on why my father was sent to take her without my knowledge?" he asked, still fighting the urge to run to her. He noticed Theo had taken his usual seat next to his father and had his eyes trained on her.

"My followers were getting restless, Draco. I couldn't let you have all the fun and give them nothing. You've been making excuses for not bringing her here for weeks. I thought it was time that you share the fun." He said, his voice containing a little amusement.

"Well, my Lord, being an only child you'll have to forgive me for not sharing sooner. It's a skill I'm sorely lacking thanks to my upbringing."

The Dark Lord chuckled and gestured for Draco to take his seat. He made his way there, past Hermione, wanting so badly to scoop her up and apparate away on the spot. He noticed she was breathing, though not regularly. He sat down, cursing the fact that his back was to her. _I have to cut this meeting short. I need to get her home._ Thoughts were running through his head. He couldn't concentrate on what Voldemort was saying. He needed to get her to safety. He'd put the Polyjuice plan into effect tomorrow. This would be the perfect opportunity. It couldn't be his fault if he said they'd all tortured her to death. He just needed a body.

"Draco?" Voldemort's voice broke into his reverie.

"Sorry, my Lord. It's been a long day. What was the question?"

"Where do you propose we keep the Mudblood going forward?"

He needed her safe. He needed her back at his house. But he had to play this properly.

"I have no problem with her remaining my pet. But if there are objections I will gladly hear them and have her put elsewhere." He forced the words out, hating himself. "I'll gladly agree to bring her to every meeting should she remain with me. I've rather grown accustomed to the stress release that torturing her offers. I'd evidently missed out for too long."

He plastered another smirk on his face. He felt Voldemort push at his thoughts and let him see a few old memories of him torturing someone and then of Granger's frail body. Voldemort seemed to buy it as one continuous image and he felt his presence in his mind recede.

"She could remain here, my Lord." Lucius piped up. "It would be easier for us all, don't you agree?"

Draco looked at his father down the table and was reminded of an argument he'd had with Hermione a couple of weeks before. He couldn't even remember who or what had started it…

 _"Will you take a fucking step down off your high horse, Granger? You can relax. You're safe here."_

 _"Safe?! You think that just because I'm supposedly safe here with you that that means I can relax and go back to being my old self? Are you fucking joking, Malfoy?" she yelled. "Every time I wake up, I think I'm stuck back in that basement again. No matter how much of that fucking potion you give me I will never get over the damage that's been done to my body and my mind. I can hear them. Every single fucking one of them, Malfoy. Yelling and laughing and torturing. I think back to your_ lovely _Aunt Bellatrix in your_ lovely _dining room when I was screaming for you to help me and I think:_ boy, those were the good old days _. I thought she was the worst thing that would ever happen to me. I couldn't have been more wrong."_

 _"Granger, I-" He hadn't expected her outburst. He hadn't expected this to escalate to a real argument, and frankly, he was too tired for it._

 _"It's still there, you know. The scar from her. Buried beneath the others. I'm like a fucking collage of scars that your buddies have given me over the years since the war started. Whether it was Bellatrix, or your father, or the Dark Lord himself. Do you want to see?"_

 _Her eyes had gone wide and her hair crackled slightly. She looked a little crazed._

 _"That's not nec-"_

 _"Look." She held her arms out to him. "You can still see the scar from Bellatrix. It faded a lot after she died, but I'm still branded as a Mudblood. Isn't that lovely of her? And this one is from where I was hit by a curse by Scabior." She pointed to a thin scar on her right arm. "This one is from Greyback, about a year after the Battle at Hogwarts." She pulled up her top and turned around to reveal three claw marks that ran from her right shoulder down to her left hip._

 _"Granger, please stop." He said. He didn't want to look, didn't want to see what had been done to her. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from the many scars across her skin._

 _"Oh and look. This one's from You-Know-Who about a week into me being kept in Theo's basement. He said he'd teach me a lesson the Muggle way, a way my poor, inferior Mudblood mind would understand." She ran her fingers along a scar that started just to the left of her navel and ended just above her pyjama bottoms._

 _"Please. You don't need to show me anymore." He pleaded. He just wanted her to stop and sit down. But she wasn't done yet._

 _"That was a quite a bad one. I passed out from blood loss. I guess Theo must have healed me a little. Remind me to thank him next time I see him." She pulled up her pyjama bottoms. They were baggy enough for her to reveal her thigh, where he saw a thick scar that started halfway up her inner thigh and disappeared into her pyjamas. "And this one, Malfoy. Oh you'll love this. It was only him and Nott left. Nott was just waiting to put me back in the basement."_

 _No. This was too much. He put his head in his hands, not wanting to see anymore._

 _"They'd been torturing me all night. For hours it went on. I used my last bit of strength and tried to crawl away from his touch. Stupid of me, really. He grabbed me and pinned me up against the wall."_

 _"Granger, I'm sorry, okay? Can you please stop? Can you just come and sit down? I'm sorry."_

 _"And then he took out his knife and went slowly up my leg with it. And then do you know what he said?"_

 _Draco was silent. He couldn't listen to this._

 _"Do you know what_ your father _said?" she hissed._

 _"Enough!" he jumped up. His fingers were itching towards his wand. He would not listen to lies about his father. "Just shut up, Granger. I'm warning you."_

 _"He told me that he'd_ fuck _me, right then, if only we'd been in_ his _home."_

 _Draco felt his face fall and his blood run cold._

 _"No. No, you're wrong." He croaked. "My father- he- he's not capable of- he wouldn't."_

 _She just stood there silently, observing his reaction. Observing her lie take hold. Because it had to be a lie. His father didn't do things like that… did he?_

 _"You're lying!" he shouted and it made her jump back a step. It was his turn to look crazed now. "You're a filthy liar! He would never-"_

 _"Don't you_ dare _call me a liar, Draco Malfoy." She seethed, her eyes narrowed on him. "I know what happened so don't you dare insult me by trying to tell me otherwise."_

 _Angry tears were forming in her eyes._

 _"I don't believe you! You're lying. If you hadn't been fucking stupid enough to get yourself caught in the bloody first place-"_

 _He was cut off with a harsh slap to his left cheek. She was breathing heavily and the tears were threatening to spill over at any second._

 _"Don't ever call me stupid again, Malfoy, or you will live to regret it." She said, her voice low. He could still feel her palm across his face._

 _He was stunned for a second or two that she'd slapped him, but then he came to his senses._

 _His eyes flashed dangerously and he took a step towards her, closing the gap between them once again. "And what, pray tell, are you capable of doing to me to make me regret anything? Other than making me regret rescuing you, that is. You can't do anything, Granger. You're weak. You're just lucky I took pity on you and didn't leave you to die. And now you're making up accusations." He leant down so they were eye to eye. "You're pathetic, Granger."_

 _He shoved past her as the tears spilt over and ran down her face._

 _"And you're a coward, Malfoy." She said. He stopped in the doorway briefly when she said that, but didn't say anything, and he almost broke his bedroom door when he slammed it shut violently._

 _Thirty minutes later, Theo turned up._

 _"Draco? It's Theo. Let me in, mate."_

 _"Go home, Theo."_

 _"Mate. Open the fucking door. This is ridiculous. You're not a teenager anymore, Drake. I can't be dealing with your angst."_

 _He muttered a charm to unlock the door and Theo entered._

 _"What do you want, Theo?" he asked without moving when Theo didn't say anything. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed._

 _"So you had a fight with Granger and you decided to lock yourself in your room. How mature. Seriously mate, if you're going to do this every time you argue with her then you're barely going to be out of your bloody room."_

 _"Fuck off, Theo."_

 _"Have I missed something? Have I suddenly gone back eight years to when we were fifteen? Because you're damn sure acting like it."_

 _Draco tensed his jaw and rubbed the bridge of his nose._

 _"Fine, if you won't talk then I will." He said. "You had a fight with Granger. I know what about. She told me. And you're not going to like what I'm here to say."_

 _"Then don't say it. Leave." Draco said._

 _"No I'm going to say it, Draco, because you need to hear it. You owe her an apology."_

 _"Are you insane?" he asked incredulously. "Did she tell you what lies she told me? Don't tell me you believe her?"_

 _"Oh for Salazar's sake, Draco. Grow up. She didn't lie and you know it."_

 _"I can't believe you actually believe her." Draco still had yet to look at him._

 _"I don't need to believe her because I was there when he said it, Draco." He sighed. "Look, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but you've been blind to this situation for far too long."_

 _"He wouldn't." he said, looking straight ahead._

 _"I'm not saying he would actually do it. But he damn sure threatened it." Theo said and sat on the desk chair, leaning forward towards Draco._

 _"He didn't mean that. He wouldn't have meant it that way. She's lying or confused."_

 _"She's not lying, Draco."_

 _"She is."_

 _"For fuck's sake, Draco! Denial does not suit you. He threatened to rape her! I heard him. What is it about that that you don't understand? I'm guessing if some part of you didn't think it was true it wouldn't have hit you this hard. How can you be surprised by anything your father does anymore?"_

 _"Argh!" Draco shouted and pointed his wand at the mirror in the corner, which abruptly shattered. He then did the same to the dresser in the corner which exploded into splinters. He raked his hands through his hair._

 _Theo was right. He'd known she was telling the truth the second she said it, but he just couldn't believe that of his father._

 _"Did that make you feel better?" Theo asked, sarcastically._

 _"I called her weak, Theo. And pathetic."_

 _"So I heard."_

 _"I'm trying to look after her and get her healthy and I go and say that to her. She baited me, but I shouldn't have risen."_

 _"No you should not have. But it's done now. The best you can do is apologise."_

 _He groaned and lay an arm over his eyes._

 _"If it makes you feel any better, just because he threatened it doesn't mean he'd do it, Drake."_

 _"Yes it does. He's sick. He doesn't make empty threats. If he said it, he meant it. He's repulsive."_

Theo had told him afterwards that the look of disgust on Draco's face was the worst he'd ever seen, and he was sure, looking at his father now, that the expression was firmly back in place.

He looked to Theo briefly, trying to make some signal to come up with something – _anything_ – that might help Granger. Because right now, that Slytherin cunning he relied on was failing him, and all he could think about was tearing his father's stupidly long hair out.

"I thought we'd already been through this all last time." Draco said after his mind caught up with him. "My father can't be trusted to keep her alive. I thought she wasn't to be killed for whatever reason. Though I must say, you lot seem to have gotten her halfway there this afternoon."

It came out a little angrier than he meant it to and he saw a few questioning looks from some of the others.

"Without me present, I might add. I would have at least thought after I missed out on seeing her be killed the first time she was in this house, I might be invited to the actual show." He added hastily, injecting a little more venom into his words.

"She isn't dead, Draco. You haven't missed out on anything that we haven't been missing out on for the past few weeks." Lucius announced. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I will echo my earlier sentiment. I believe you may have grown too attached to Potter's Mudblood to view this situation objectively."

"You _are_ wrong, Lucius." Draco said through gritted teeth. "There is a difference between growing attached to the Mudblood and growing accustomed to the rather particular brand of stress release."

"So you'd be happy for her to remain here?" Lucius smirked, obviously trying to bait Draco.

"Ecstatic." He said, his jaw clenched hard. He exchanged a look with Theo, who had paled several shades and was stealing worried glances at Hermione.

"Then it's settled." Lucius smiled menacingly at his son. _He knows_. A small voice spoke up in Draco's head. No, that was just him being paranoid. "If you agree that is, my Lord."

"I have no objections, as long as she remains alive, Lucius." The Dark Lord had an amused look. Draco had noticed that he always looked amused whenever people argued. He intentionally set it up sometimes, Draco had noticed. It was a weird thing to enjoy watching – people bickering amongst themselves. Draco was surprised he didn't instigate more violent arguments. "That will be all for this evening. I would say we will pick up where we left off earlier but the Mudblood still doesn't seem to have regained consciousness."

Draco chanced a look behind him and wished he hadn't. She was still sprawled on the floor, her face turned away. God, he wished he could just see that face. He could honestly say he'd only ever been this worried about someone else once before in his life, and that was when Voldemort had threatened his mother.

"Lestrange, follow me. I want an update on that task I gave you." Voldemort stood up and swept from the room, Lestrange following at his heels. The other Death Eaters started to stand, a few of them giving almost longing looks towards Hermione. Soon, only Theo, Draco and Lucius remained.

Draco drummed his fingers against the table, so badly fighting the urge to run to her and hold her to him.

"Theo, take her out, will you? Put her in the servants' quarters. I need to have a discussion with my dearest old father." Draco said through gritted teeth. He watched as Theo stood up slowly, asking Draco a thousand questions with his eyes. He watched as Theo walked over to her and bent down to lift her. His eyes flicked quickly to Lucius and instead of picking her up, he used his wand to levitate her limp body in front of him as he walked out of the room.

They were silent for a moment.

"If you _ever_ -" Draco stood up and narrowed his eyes at his father. "-break into _my_ house, and take _my_ property, _ever_ again, I will end you, Lucius."

His father laughed, a short, humourless chuckle, before standing up so he was eye to eye with Draco. "Do not attempt to intimidate me, boy. It's a rather pathetic threat coming from you."

"I mean it, Lucius." Draco stalked forward. "I'd have done it a long time ago had it not been for mother. But she's gone, and it's your fault, so now there is nothing stopping me from killing you."

"You'd kill your own father over a pathetic little Mudblood? My, my, Draco, you have changed. Whatever will the Dark Lord say when I tell him that his right hand man has fallen for Potter's Mudblood?" he smirked.

"Do not underestimate me, father. It would not be because of her that I would kill you. It would be purely for my own pleasure. If you hadn't been so despicably morose for the last few months I might have done it before now. But there's really not as much fun in killing the pathetic." Draco longed to leave and check on Hermione, but he knew his father well. He liked to be alone when he was angry. To smash mirrors and ornaments and to drink and seethe in silence. If Draco got him angry, it would buy him more time to help Hermione.

"I'm not pathetic!" Lucius shouted and pointed his wand at Draco's chest.

Draco scoffed. "Look at you. You're a bag of bones for one thing. You're taking some sort of sick pride into supposedly getting one over on your own son for another. We both know why you want the Mudblood here, and it has very little to do with not wanting me to have her. You are a pathetic, vile little man."

Lucius shot a spell at Draco, which he shielded with ease.

"Honestly, Lucius. You forget your place sometimes. You are nothing. Don't be fooled into thinking that the Dark Lord wouldn't get rid of you in a heartbeat. Well, assuming either of you still has a heartbeat that is." He smirked. He could practically see the steam coming out of his father's ears. Draco stormed past his father to the door, bumping his shoulder with his own on the way. He just needed to add one final thing to send his father over the edge. "Just remember the reason, father, for why it is that you are alone in this house. Remember her face, and all the things she did for you, and remember what _you_ did. Remember that you are a worthless piece of shit for it and that your only son can't even stand to look at you."

And with that he slammed the door on his father's dining room, and literally ran as fast as he could to find Hermione.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Just a short little chap this time because I've been working on some other stuff. Massive thanks _always_ to all of you who review and follow and fave! You keep me going so big high fives to you all!

* * *

Dying was very strange, she thought. It wasn't at all what she'd imagined it would be. There was no great white light coming toward her like all the books and films made out. There was just darkness, and periods of pain, followed by periods of numbness. She felt hands at her back, pushing her forward, pushing her to the end of the tunnel. _It must be a tunnel_ , she thought, _otherwise they wouldn't be pushing me along_. Maybe, at least, she might be reunited with all her lost friends. If she ever did make it to the end. She heard someone saying her name. They were so far away. It was barely a whisper to her. Which way did that come from? Which way should she go?

* * *

He found them quickly. The servants' quarters weren't large. They were in a small room, one with simply a bed and a wardrobe. Theo was sitting on the bed, holding one of Granger's hands in both of his. She was lying there, lifeless.

"We don't have long to get this sorted. How is she?" Draco asked, his voice hollow, as he knelt beside the bed and examined her face.

"She's bad. This is bad, Draco. I've only ever seen her this bad once before, and that was after hours of it." Theo said, not taking his eyes off her.

"Theo, I need you to do something for me." Draco said quickly, pushing one of her curls off her face and behind her ear.

Theo looked at him questioningly.

"The plan. The Polyjuice. I need to do it tonight. As in right now. My father is occupied for now but he'll come looking for her soon. I need you to get a body."

"Draco, I really don't think it's going to wo-"

"It will." Draco said forcefully. "Trust me. It's going to be fine. It _has_ to be fine. _She_ has to be fine"

Theo sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Where the hell am I going to get a body?" He asked.

"There's a Muggle healing centre near your father's house, isn't there? Go to my house, get the Polyjuice and go and find a body. You need to go _now_. We don't have much time. Disillusion yourself and the body when you come back. We can't risk my father seeing it or you."

"Give me some credit, mate, I'm not that big of an idiot. I'll be back as soon as I can." He said and left the room.

Draco picked up Hermione's hand and held it in his.

"I'm so sorry, Granger. I'm so sorry I let this happen to you." He rubbed her arm. "Granger, please wake up, so I can apologise properly. I'm going to fix this. They won't be able to get to you anymore, I promise."

Five minutes passed and he thought he should probably go and check on his father. This was not a good position for Draco to be found in. But he couldn't tear himself away from her. He didn't want her to wake up without him there and be terrified. She stirred a little. Just a small movement. Draco felt her grip onto his hand a little. He called her name again, trying to draw her out of sleep. It didn't work.

Another five minutes passed. He really ought to check on his father.

Her chest started rising and falling quickly and he called her name again. It seemed to work this time. She gripped his hand with her own. He watched her eyes flutter, and then her mouth opened and she screamed. It was that same scream that had torn his mind to shreds the last time she had been in the Manor.

"Ssh. It's okay." He said, trying to soothe her.

Her eyes flew open at his voice and she seemed to calm a little when she saw him.

"I'm so sorry, Granger." He repeated. "I'm going to get you home, okay?"

"It… hurts… so much." She said through gritted teeth. There were tears rolling down her cheeks.

If he'd thought the scream had torn his mind to shreds, the look on her face tore his heart right up. She was in so much pain. And it was his fault. How could he have let his father get to her?

"I'm so sorry." He said again, and used his thumb to wipe a tear off her cheek. She was gripping his hand so hard, he thought she might break his bones. But then her grip loosened and she passed out again.

He squeezed her hand. Theo had better be quick. He needed to get her home. There was no immediate cure for the effects of the Cruciatus, but there were potions that eased the pain. He got up to find his father. It didn't take long. All he had to do was follow the sounds of breaking china and glass. If he was still breaking things that was a good sign. That meant they still had time. After he raved and broke things, he would sit in silence and seethe, usually for about an hour. It was a habit Narcissa had forced him into. It stopped him lashing out at her and Draco, like Theo's dad often used to do with his wife.

He slipped into the library, looking for a book on wards. It was paramount that his father couldn't get through them again. He kept listening, making sure he could still hear things breaking. Honestly, he couldn't understand how one person could have so much rage. Lucius had probably broken everything in this house three times over by now.

He found the book he was looking for within ten minutes and he went straight back to her, cursing himself for getting complacent and not thinking that something like this would happen. As he sat watching her, listening for his father or Theo, the weight of his feelings for her hit him like a tonne of bricks. _Shit_.

* * *

 **A/N:** You know what to do... review!


	9. Chapter 9

"You owe me big for this Draco Malfoy." Theo whispered as he levitated the body of a middle aged woman in front of him. "I feel dirty. This is abhorrent. You shouldn't mess around with the dead, Draco."

"Better than watching her die, Theo, wouldn't you agree?" Draco asked as he picked Hermione up off the bed. She was completely out of it, her head slumped back over his arm.

Theo set the body on the bed and unscrewed the top off the flask of Polyjuice potion that he was carrying.

"How much do I give? Are they even able to swallow it when they're… like this?" he looked puzzled, and quite frankly, a little scared of the dead body in their midst. Draco recognised the feeling. He'd probably be feeling it himself if he wasn't so preoccupied with worrying about Hermione. He'd definitely felt like that the first time he'd done it.

"Put the flask down. You take Granger. I'll do this." He said and carefully placed her into Theo's arms.

He pulled a strand of Hermione's hair out and added it the potion, before pouring it down the woman's throat. He stood back and he and Theo watched while the stranger's body in front of them morphed into Hermione.

It was a horrible sight to see. It shook Draco straight to his core, thinking that it could so easily have been the real her lying there dead.

Then he heard footsteps upstairs and he knew their time was running out.

"Quickly." He said quietly and disillusioned both Hermione and Theo. "Get her back to my house. Give her a pain potion. You know where they are."

He walked quickly out to the front door, only aware that Theo was closely following by the sound of his breaths behind him.

When they were safely out of the house, he turned and made his way back towards the library, hoping he wouldn't pass his father. He was not in luck. Just as he was halfway up the stairs, his father appeared at the top.

"Draco." He said, his voice slightly hoarse, probably from yelling. "What are you doing here?"

Think fast, Draco. Think really fucking fast.

He plastered yet another malicious smirk on his face.

"Hello, father. I was just coming to give you some good news. Well, good for me at least. I don't think it will bode all that well for you."

"What are you talking about, boy?" Lucius snapped.

"Well, I've just been here, using the library to research wards. You know how I need to update my security after this afternoon." He smirked wider and carried on up the steps, not liking the fact that his father was looking down at him. "I was just leaving when I thought I'd check up on my old pet – your new pet – just to see what damage had been done. I was curious you see, after missing out on all the fun, whether I'd be able to have another go before I left."

He reached the top of the stairs. Lucius had once been a tall man, but he had shrunk a little in the last few months. Draco had a few inches on him now, and he used them to sneer down at the man he'd once aspired to be.

"Get to the point, Draco."

"Well, maybe you'd like to see for yourself. As I said it does not bode well for you when the Dark Lord finds out."

At that, Lucius' eyes grew wide and he swept past his son down the stairs. Draco followed, walking slower than his father. When he reached the room, his father was standing over the body. Draco leant casually against the door frame.

"See what I mean, Lucius? Shame, really. She was such good fun."

Lucius didn't turn around or respond, but Draco could practically feel the anger radiating off the man.

"So, do you want to summon the Dark Lord or shall I?" he smiled maliciously at his father's back. He knew his father would be punished for this. Even if it had been just as much the fault of all of them. Frankly, he didn't give a shit.

"You did this!" Lucius turned around quickly, his nostrils flaring.

"No, I think you'll find you and the rest of them did this, Lucius. I wasn't there this afternoon, remember?"

"You've done something! The Mudblood can't be dead! You've done something to help her, I know you have!" Lucius drew his wand. "Tell me!"

"Honestly, father. I pity you. Your mind must be long gone at this stage, accusing me of something like that. Why would I possibly have done anything to help a Mudblood? Well, maybe the Dark Lord will take pity on you as well and not punish you so harshly."

Draco rolled up his sleeve and took out his wand.

"No! Do not summon him! I forbid you!"

Draco laughed. "Really, Lucius? You think you would have learned your rank by now." He leant into his father's face. "I do not take orders from scum like you."

He pressed his wand to the mark and the familiar burn swept through it. He walked back out of the servant's quarters and into the entrance hall, where Voldemort was sweeping through the door.

"Draco, it was you that called?" his voice was high and cold, laced with suspicion.

"Yes, my Lord. I'm afraid I have to be the bearer of bad news. It is in regards to my father."

Lucius walked into the entrance hall behind him.

"My father – having been too busy dealing with his own pathetic rage – has allowed the Mudblood to die."

Voldemort's red eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared slightly. Draco didn't even know that was possible.

"Her body is still in the servants' quarters."

"Take me to it." He said after a moment of assessing Draco. "The Mudblood has lasted this long. I do not believe that an hour in Lucius' care could have killed her."

"Of course, my Lord." Draco turned around and led the way. "But I think it is the lack of care that killed her. She is used to having potions to keep her alive after we have our fun. My father neglected to give her that."

He stood in the doorway while Voldemort went in the room to look at the body. _Her_ body. No, he couldn't think like that. It wasn't her body. It wasn't her. She was safe at home with Theo.

"The Golden Trio is finally no more, my Lord. Shall I dispose of the body?" Draco asked after a moment.

When Voldemort turned around, his eyes were redder than ever. Someone was going to get hurt tonight. "Burn it. The other two went out in flames. The Mudblood will as well."

"Consider it done, my Lord." He answered as he levitated the body.

"Where is Lucius?" he asked curtly.

"Probably hiding from you, my Lord. He's become something of a coward, have you noticed?"

Voldemort growled. Actually growled. He then shot a spell at the body that made it spasm and glow red.

"Go. Take it out of my sight."

"Yes, my Lord." Draco said and left the room, the body floating in front of him.

The last thing he heard when he reached the edge of the wards, before he apparated away with the body, was a piercing scream from inside the house.

* * *

He disposed of the body quickly and apparated back to his home, where he ran swiftly inside. Theo was kneeling on the floor, his arms wrapped around Hermione and his face almost obscured by her hair. She was sobbing into his shoulder, her arms latched around his neck.

Draco felt an unwanted stab of jealousy at the picture and pushed it down as he walked towards them. He almost cracked a smile at the look on Theo's face. His eyes were wide and he was obviously uncomfortable. He looked at Draco pleadingly.

Draco knelt down beside them and placed a hand on Hermione's back. Theo lifted her away from him slightly and as soon as she saw Draco, her sobs seemed to double and she flung her arms around him instead. He pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her waist. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and he felt her hot tears on his skin.

Draco barely noticed Theo stand up and leave.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered in her ear. Her whole body shook with her sobs. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I'm so sorry I wasn't here."

He lost track of how long they sat like that. At some point – he didn't even quite notice when – he manoeuvred them so they were sitting on the sofa behind them. But her hands didn't unclasp from his neck, and his didn't move from around her waist. Her sobs subsided, and were replaced by hiccups.

"I'm so sorry, Granger. Please. I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but please. Say something. Let me know what I can do. I need to do something for you."

"You are, Draco." She said quietly. Her voice was hoarse, and it trembled slightly. She pulled away a little, but Draco wouldn't let her go far.

He searched her face. She looked broken. It broke his heart to see her like this. He thought he'd done all he could to protect her. He couldn't believe how he'd failed her. She'd nearly died today.

"You got me out." She said.

"It's my fault you were there in the first place." He said. "Has Theo given you pain potion?"

"Yes. I'm just- I'm so tired, Draco."

"Do you want to go upstairs?"

"Maybe later. I'll just stay here for now." she murmured sleepily.

She shuffled down and put her head on his lap. He grabbed a cushion and placed it under her head and then she gripped his hand in her own. She was asleep in minutes, and Draco used his free hand to play with her hair, stroking through it and twirling pieces around his fingers.

He'd nearly lost her today. And it had taken nearly losing her to realise what she meant to him. Theo had been right. He was playing with fire.

But she was safe now and that was all that mattered. He couldn't quite believe that they'd actually pulled it off. Voldemort thought she was dead. He wouldn't be needing her or asking for her anymore. He smiled to himself, a small weight lifting off his shoulders. Not only had he completed the plan, but he'd got to blame his father for it as well. Win-win.

He listened to her breathing, still slightly unsteady from her sobs earlier, and it didn't take him long to drift off. He'd had a long fucking day.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks to all of you guys for sticking with me! Please keep reviewing and let me know what you're thinking/any ideas/improvements/critiques you may have! I love reading what you guys think!


	10. Chapter 10

When Draco awoke it was light outside. He had a crick in his neck from lying with his head on the back of the couch all night and his limbs felt like dead weights. Hermione was deeply asleep. She had turned towards him in her sleep and her head was in a rather precarious position on his lap. Thank Merlin he'd put a cushion under her or she would have awoken in a _very_ awkward position.

With a lot of quiet manoeuvring, he managed to get himself out from under her head and put another cushion under her. She hardly even stirred as he did so. He went quickly upstairs to relieve himself and brush his teeth – his breath could probably stop a hippogriff. He was just about to change when he heard her calling from downstairs. He virtually flew down the stairs.

"Draco? Draco!" She sounded terrified.

He ran into the room and straight to her. She was sitting up on the couch, tears in her eyes.

"Hermione, it's okay. I'm here." He knelt on the floor in front of her and put one hand on her shoulder and the other on her face.

Tears were silently falling from her eyes.

"Hermione?"

She just shook her head as the tears continued.

"Hermione, what's wrong? You're scaring me." He used his thumb to wipe a tear away as it fell.

"You-" She took a deep breath and calmed a little. "You weren't here."

"Oh, Granger." He sat beside her and pulled her into a hug. She latched onto him again tightly, as she had done the previous night. "I'm sorry. I was just upstairs. I thought I might change out of these stinking clothes so at least you'd have something fresh to smell when you hug me."

He felt her laugh a little against him and he pulled away slightly to study her face. She looked tired – that was a given – but all in all, she didn't look too bad.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"I've been better." She smiled a little.

"Seriously, Granger. Does anything hurt? Do you need any pain potion?"

"Not hurting exactly. I'm just all fuzzy. Like my arms and legs feel heavy and my head is like it's filled with cotton wool or something."

"We've still got some of the _Primum ens Melissae_ left over. You can have some of that with breakfast. Hopefully it'll help."

"Thank you." She said, and buried her face in his neck again.

"There's nothing to thank me for Granger. I'm just so glad you're okay. Relatively speaking." He rubbed circles on her back.

"You got me out, Draco."

"I wouldn't have needed to if I'd been more vigilant. If I'd not been stupid enough to leave you on your own for so long."

"Constant vigilance." She laughed to herself, and he worried whether the Cruciatus had affected her mind a little.

"What?"

"Something Moody used to say. But you weren't to know he would come Draco."

"When I got home yesterday," he mused, burying his face deeper into her hair, "And you weren't here, it was- I didn't know what to do. All I could think of was getting you out of there. You've come to mean a great deal to me, Miss Granger."

She chuckled in his ear. "Likewise Mr Malfoy."

"Well this is cosy." Theo's voice came from the doorway to the living room. He was leaning against the frame and smiling at Draco in a knowing way that made him a little uncomfortable.

"Theo!" Hermione leapt up and ran to Theo, stumbling a little as she went. Draco reached out to grab her but Theo caught her before she could fall and he pulled her into a hug.

"You okay, Granger?" he asked.

"I'll get there. Thank you for yesterday. For helping bring me home."

"Don't scare us like that again." Theo scolded. He let her go and held her by her shoulders in front of him. "Seriously love, I think Draco nearly had a heart attack when he realised you weren't here. Almost let on that he cared."

Theo gave Draco a significant look over Hermione's shoulder that clearly said ' _We need to talk'_.

"Why are you here, Theo?" Draco asked, tersely.

"I'm hurt, Draco." Theo pulled Hermione around to his side and put an arm around her shoulders. "Hurt deeply, that you are not overjoyed to see your best friend." He put his free hand to his chest to emphasise the point.

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Theo." Draco said, a note of warning to his voice. He was all good with Theo's sense of humour, but only when it suited. And right now, it was far too early for him to deal with it.

"Merlin, you're no fun in the morning. I came to make you lovely folks breakfast. Something told me neither of you would exactly be feeling like cooking right now. So I'm here to cook for you today. Well, this morning at least. I'm not a house elf after all!"

"That's sweet, Theo, thank you." Hermione said. "Do you want any help?"

"No, love. You need to relax." He gave her a hand back to the sofa. Draco had the feeling Theo was going to try to corner him, and he'd really rather do it later than sooner. And preferably after some kind of energy potion or at the very least a cup of coffee. Merlin, it was early.

"You okay if I go and shower and change while Theo makes breakfast?" Draco knelt in front of Hermione.

"Yeah of course. I was just being silly earlier. Sorry." She blushed and looked down at her hands.

"You've nothing to apologise for, Granger." He said and squeezed her hand. She bit her lip and he thought she might say something, but she shook her head slightly and let his hand go.

* * *

Hermione sat at the breakfast table digging into the bacon and syrup pancakes that Theo had laid in front of her. The _Primum ens Melissae_ she had drunk was already kicking in and making her feel better. The pancakes were incredibly sickly and she wasn't even that hungry, but _Godric_ , did they taste good.

She looked at Draco and Theo, who had spent the entirety of breakfast trying to keep her out of her head and distinctly _not_ mentioning what had happened the previous day, and she thought, it could be a lot worse. She could still be in that basement. Or she could be with Lucius Malfoy. She still wanted to know what happened though. How on earth had she managed to escape Voldemort again?

"So boys, what happened yesterday?" she interrupted.

Their reaction was almost comical. They looked at her, eyes wide, then at each other, then they both looked down at their plates and cleared their throats at the same time.

"Nothing happened."

"It was nothing."

They spoke simultaneously.

She narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"

No one spoke. Theo pushed the last piece of bacon on his plate with his fork. Draco scratched at the table.

"Theo?"

No response.

"Draco?"

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. A habit she was beginning to recognise in him.

"Will one of you tell me what's going on?"

Why weren't they telling her? Did this mean something bad had happened? Oh, Merlin, what if…?

"Look, I'm a big girl." She felt her eyes begin to burn, thoughts running fast through her head. "If someone _did_ something to me, besides the Cruciatus, you can tell-"

"Shit, no, Hermione it's nothing like that, I swear." Draco said quickly and looked at her imploringly.

She let out a breath that she hadn't realised she was holding and closed her eyes.

"Well, will one of you please tell me what happened? Because I swear, if you don't, so help me Godric, I will pour all of your precious whiskey down that sink and I will make a scratch on your favourite record."

"Okay, fine!" Draco said and looked back at Theo and then back down at the table. "We, um, that is to say-"

Hermione found it a little amusing. She'd never seen Draco flustered before. If she didn't want answers she'd tease him for it. But she settled with making a mental note to do so later on.

"Out with it, Draco."

"We had to-"

"The Dark Lord thinks you're dead, love." Theo interrupted, without looking up.

"Way to break the news gently, mate." Draco glared at Theo.

Hermione played the words back in her head.

"What exactly led him to think that, Theo?"

"We made a dead body look like you."

"Theo! Salazar's sake, I was not going to tell her like this!" Draco slammed his fork down.

"She has to fucking know what happened, Draco! She's not an invalid, and let's be honest if you didn't want her to know, we both know you'd have acted better."

"That's what the Polyjuice was for." Hermione said quietly.

"Of course I wanted her to know, but there are ways of telling people things, Theo!"

"Wise up, Draco! I only told her like that because you couldn't."

"Excuse me! I am still here, you know." Hermione raised her voice. "Am I correct in assuming that that was actually what the Polyjuice was for?"

"Yes."

"So let me get this straight. Not only did you lie to me about what it was for, but you had the plan to kill off an innocent person and Polyjuice them to look like me from the very first week I came here?"

"No, not kill off an innocent person. That was not part of it!"

"It was a dead Muggle body from a healing place by my father's house, Granger. We didn't kill anyone for you."

"Well I guess that explains the looks you gave us whenever we mentioned it, Theo. I'm guessing you were not entirely on board with this reckless plan of action?"

"Decidedly not, Granger. But my protests fell on deaf ears." He gestured to Draco. "So I shut my mouth about it. But it worked, so I guess I owe Draco an apology."

"Not so fast. Draco, you had this plan from the first week I came here? That night you were upset, and we sat in there and we drank and you told me I could help you with the Polyjuice. You were planning this idiotic, reckless plan since then?"

"Yes." He said dejectedly. "But it wasn't that idiotic, because it work-"

Hermione cut him off by getting up, throwing her arms around his neck and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you." She said and smiled and then went around to hug Theo. "Both of you. Even if half of you weren't actually wholly committed." She smirked at Theo. "I'm going for a bath. Breakfast was delicious, Theo."

* * *

"So," Theo said after he cast a quick cleaning charm on the plates. "I was right."

"Right about what?" Draco asked.

"Right about you and her." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, surveying Draco carefully.

"I don't follow." Draco narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What I said yesterday. I was right, wasn't I?"

"Theo, I'm sure you said a lot of things yesterday. Few of which were actually worth remembering. But if you have a question to ask me, mate, then out with it." There was just a hint of malice in Draco's voice. Theo recognised it well. It was a popular tone amongst Slytherins.

"You like her, don't you? Fancy her, I mean."

Theo expected an argument. The throwing of dishes maybe or insults hurled at him. The outright denial of any feelings towards her. He at least expected an unsubtle change of subject.

What he was not expecting was for Draco to sigh, lean back in his chair and say "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to me." Theo shrugged and leaned towards Draco. "I've kind of been looking for it. You look at her differently now than you did at the start. And your face when she kissed you just now was priceless!" He chuckled. "Since when, mate?"

Draco exhaled loudly through his mouth. "No idea. Yesterday, last week, last month, who knows? If you'd tried to have this conversation with me two days ago I probably would have yelled at you."

"That is what I was expecting, mate." Theo laughed.

"I only realised yesterday when I saw her like that." Draco mused without looking at him and he seemed to shudder from the memory. "Theo, you're still good at Occlumency right? The Dark Lord's never read you before?"

"Not since I took the mark, same as you. Why?"

Draco seemed to assess something for a moment while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fuck it. I've already told you too much anyway so what's one more thing?" He looked up at Theo with determination. "I'm sending her back to the resistance."

Theo's immediate reaction was shock. But when he played back the words in his head a second after Draco had said them, it all made sense. Hell, he was annoyed at himself for not seeing it sooner. He looked at Draco for a long moment, saw the resolve in his eyes and the set to his jaw and then something clicked and all the pieces fell into place. All the cryptic conversations. All the looks between the pair of them. All the sentences left hanging or cut off when he entered the room.

"Oh fuck." He put his head in his hands. "You're helping them, aren't you?"

When Draco didn't respond he looked up. His jaw had tensed even more.

"Aren't you?"

"You know you can't repeat that."

"Of course I fucking know, mate! Merlin, I swear sometimes you think I want you to be killed!"

Theo exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I won't help you."

"I didn't ask you to."

"I don't think it will work. Whatever it is you're trying to do."

"I'm trying to get rid of the Dark Lord. Shit, Theo, aren't you sick of all this?"

"Of course I am. But I can't risk it. I don't want to be harsh, mate, but the only family you've got left is a father you loath and a mother who you know is safe from them. My mother may have left but they know where she is. One wrong move from me or my father and her and my sister pay for it. And Daph too. You know I can't risk trying to change things."

"I know, Theo. Which is why I'm doing it. They're going to get stronger. There's still a lot of them left, they're just too scared to group together now. I send her back to them with a plan, and they can rally the troops and cry havoc. They – _we_ – can destroy him. He's not invincible anymore. He just doesn't know it yet."

It all sounded too good to be true. Draco's words gave him the slightest glimmer of hope, but he quashed it quickly. He'd given up hoping long ago. But still…

"From your lips to Merlin's ears." He said and raised his coffee mug in a toast. Draco smiled and did the same.

"Does that mean you want in?"

"Hell, no. I never want to hear you mention it again. I don't want to add you to my list of people to worry about."

"Awh mate, I didn't know you cared." Draco teased.

"Fuck off."

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry I know it's been a little while since the last update. Thank you all for the follows and faves. Special thanks and happy thoughts go out to Frogster, thelight-ofnight, ErikaNeubert, now-you-know-the-real-me, Beth, sed418, xDarkDesiresLightx, GhostQueen147, Judy, lynnchan111 and annaea3077 for the reviews. Your words keep me going!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Oh my gosh - chapter 11 already! I've been struggling with major writers block recently - anyone have any tips? Many many thanks and cyber hi-5s to all of you that follow and fave and review. I love it! I've been really bad with responding to reviews lately *hangs head in shame* but hopefully going to get round to replying to you guys this weekend!

* * *

"You don't fight as much as you used to." Theo's voice broke into her reverie. She was taking a break from research and was reading an old Muggle spy novel that she had found in one of the spare rooms upstairs.

"Pardon?" she asked, as she reluctantly tore her gaze away.

"You and Draco. You used to be at each other's throats. A lot. You're not so much now."

"Oh, yeah. We get on a lot better now." she answered, not really knowing where Theo's train of thought had come from. They'd been sitting in the living room in comfortable silence all morning, both of them reading. Draco had gone out to run some errands, or so he said. She wasn't exactly sure what that entailed and she hadn't really wanted to ask.

"When did you stop arguing so much?" He mused.

"Um, I guess the last big fight we had was the one about his father. When you made him apologise. We haven't had a proper fight since. We're probably due one again soon though." She chuckled.

Theo's gaze was penetrating, and it made her want to keep talking.

"I guess I liked arguing with him before. It was good to get angry and take something out on a Death Eater. Now we're closer and I know he's not really a bad guy-"

"He's not? He is a Death Eater. He's keeping you here against your will, is he not?" Theo raised an eyebrow.

There was something about his look that made Hermione think she was being tested.

"What do you know, Theo? Why are you asking me about this?" She put her book down beside her.

"I want to know what you know."

"I can't tell you what I know."

He paused and scanned her face. Hermione felt colour come to her cheeks and worked to combat it. This was definitely some kind of Slytherin test.

"What do you know about the resistance?" he asked.

"Enough." She responded. "What do you know?"

"I know he's sending you back to them."

"You think I'd still be here if I didn't know that?"

He smirked. "You underestimate Draco."

"You underestimate me."

"Really? You didn't get out of my basement the whole time you were there."

 _What game is he playing?_ She thought.

"True. But I didn't exactly have a lot of resources there. I've got a whole set of kitchen knives here. And a fire poker. And access to potions. And plenty of other things I could use to either kill him or get myself out. Hell, there's even gardening tools out the back. I could've dug underground. Pulled an Andy Dufresne."

"A what?"

"Muggle film."

"The wards would have stopped you."

"I was under the impression the wards don't extend more than a foot or two below the surface. Well, certain ones might but they're often not the difficult ones to break through. I imagine even with my lack of ability with wandless magic I'd be able to break them within a week or so. I could be doing anything while Draco is out all day."

"But you're not."

"No. Because I know what I know. What exactly is the point to this, Theo?"

"I just wanted to know what you know. Draco may be intelligent and cunning and a Malfoy, but even he has his blind spots. I know what he's trying to do and I don't think it will work. Of course he won't hear it when I tell him."

"So you want me to tell him?" she asked sceptically.

"No, of course not. I know you'd never tell him to stop what he's doing."

"Theo, where is all this coming from?" In all honesty, it was unnerving her to see Theo so serious.

He sighed. "Draco is my best friend. I don't think what he's trying to do with bringing down the Dark Lord will work, but if anyone has a chance of pulling it off, it's him. But like I said, even he's got his blind spots. Don't take advantage of them."

She watched him for a moment, trying to gauge his sincerity.

"I won't." she said finally.

And with those two words, Theo was obviously satisfied, because his grin returned instantly.

"You want to mess with Draco and switch all his records around?"

"That is pure evil." She smirked. "But yeah, definitely."

* * *

Draco didn't return to the house until the evening. He didn't like the winter. The days were too short. It never really got light, not like it did in summer. And in Britain, it was very rare to see the sun in winter. The sky in the day was a perpetual white-grey. That's why he was sort of enjoying his assignment at the moment. Granted, Greece in December wasn't exactly that sunny, but it was a lot warmer than anywhere in Britain.

"How was your day?" Theo asked as Draco sat on the sofa beside a napping Hermione, and Draco knew he was asking for reasons other than social niceties.

"The Dark Lord is still in a terrible mood, but on the bright side it means he's taken up residence with my father so that whenever he gets angry he has someone to take it out on. My father is still alive… for now. Don't ask me whether that's good or bad news. The Manor is still intact which I'm actually surprised about. I managed to find a translator who won't ask too many questions. He took me to this brilliant old wand maker and I managed to get a wand for her. And I made it back in time to pick up takeout from that old pizza place. All in all, better than I thought it would be."

"You got her a wand?" Theo asked.

"Don't overreact! She has to get used to magic again before I send her back. She's never going to cope otherwise."

"I agree."

"And she's not- what? You do?"

Theo nodded. "I do."

"No lecture on how she's going to stab me in the back? How I'm playing with fire?"

"Nope." Theo smirked. "We have an understanding now. Me and her."

Draco was about to ask what that meant when Hermione stirred and stretched before opening her eyes.

"I smell pizza." She said as she sat up quickly.

Draco and Theo both laughed.

"Am I right? Do I smell it?" she asked eagerly.

Draco waved his wand and the pizza boxes that he'd left in the hall were transported onto the coffee table.

"You do." He answered.

"Oh, you little legend!" she beamed and opened the boxes.

"That is the general consensus." He smirked.

It didn't take them long to polish off the two pizzas.

"Granger, I got you a kind of gift today actually." Draco said as he leaned back against the sofa. At some point they'd all migrated to the floor to eat.

"A gift for me?" she smiled excitedly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Do I need a reason?" Draco smirked.

"Oh Merlin, get on with it! I don't want to have to start dealing with any lovey-dovey stuff from you two."

Hermione laughed. "As if!"

Draco's stomach dropped a little at her reaction.

"Anyway." He said and pulled the slender box out of his jacket pocket.

Hermione looked at it and her face dropped. He couldn't read her expression. He couldn't tell if she was surprised or upset or angry or happy. Her face showed nothing.

"What's in that, Draco?"

"It's not a Blast-Ended Skrewt, Granger. Take it!"

He watched as she unceremoniously wiped the pizza grease on her hands into her jeans and he had to struggle not to turn his nose up at the gesture. She took the box carefully from him. He exchanged a look with Theo, who was watching the pair of them with a highly amused expression.

She took the lid off and looked at what was inside. A long moment passed and she just stared and didn't say anything. Theo was still smirking to high heaven.

"It's nothing special. Ebony and dragon heartstring core. It might not even work properly for you, you know 'cause you didn't pick it out. But this wand maker I got it from – he's brilliant." Draco was vaguely aware that he was babbling, but Hermione still hadn't said anything so he couldn't stop himself. "He's not very well known. But I asked him if he could pick a wand for someone without them there, and he got me talking a bit – I didn't tell him too much obviously – but he picked that one for you. Ebony is meant to be great for combative spells and Transfiguration too. I remembered you seemed to like Transfiguration in school. Although, you were kind of a swot, so who could tell what you liked better. And dragon heart-"

"Draco, it's- I- you're babbling. Stop." She turned to him and smiled. "Thank you."

She picked the wand out of the box carefully and held it in her hand. Her smile widened.

"It feels good. I had dragon heartstring in my first wand. Thank you."

She flicked the wand at the boxes on the table, the concentration evident in her face, and they levitated slowly. Her eyes went wide and she beamed. Draco smiled. She looked so pleased with herself. He was struck with the sudden urge to pull her to him and kiss her.

"Well, unfortunately for you two, I have to leave and deprive you of the wonder of my company. But I'll be back round soon to see how you're getting on Granger. We'll have to start target practice. We could paint Draco like a bullseye, put him to some good use." He winked at Hermione.

"Sounds like a plan." She said, but she was a little distracted by levitating the coasters.

Draco got up and walked with Theo to the front door.

"You kids have fun tonight. I'm sure you're hoping for a lovely long thank you from her but you might want to confess your feelings first. Let her know what she's getting herself in for." Theo smirked.

"Theo, do not make me regret telling you." Draco's jaw tensed.

"Awh mate I'm only kidding." He punched him lightly in the arm. "This is just fucking hilarious. This crush you've got is going to keep me wildly entertained. I haven't had this much to roast you for in years." He laughed.

"Goodbye, Theo." Draco practically pushed him out of the door.

"Bye lover boy!" Theo called as he walked away.

* * *

 **A/N:** So there's Chapter 11. I'm not too sure I'm happy with it so let me know what you think. Don't worry - there is some Dramione loveliness coming very soon. We're leading up to Christmas in the story and Christmas is a time for good things to happen ;)

The Andy Dufresne reference, for those that don't know is from The Shawshank Redemption - a goddamn great movie.

But yeah, please review and let me know what you think - good or bad! Happy Easter guys!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Just a short little update this week! I wish I could express my gratitude in words to all of you who review and follow and fave! You are literally the best.

* * *

"Granger, come on, don't be like this."

"No, I'm done. If you're not going to take this seriously then I'll do it by myself or I'll get Theo to do it with me." She stormed into the kitchen and Draco shut the back door behind them.

"You think Theo's going to be any harder on you?"

"I'm sure he would be. At least he actually respects me enough to do it properly."

They'd been practising combat spells. Or at least that's what Draco had agreed to.

"Granger, don't be so ridiculous."

"Oh ridiculous, am I? Well that's really fucking nice of you."

"Granger, you know I respect you." He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Do you?" she scoffed. "Damn sure doesn't seem like it. How the fuck do you expect me get better if you won't even treat me like an adult?"

"I _am_ treating you like an adult! God, you're infuriating!"

"Oh, _I'm_ infuriating?! At least you're not being treated like a child by some holier-than-thou, narcissistic prick with an ego complex!" She walked through to the hall, Draco following closely behind.

"You're one to talk about holier-than-thou attitudes, Little Miss Know-It-All!"

"I'm sorry if you're wounded by my intelligence, Malfoy, but some of us actually _want_ to better ourselves."

"Oh get off your fucking high horse, Granger. You're just proving my very valid point by being like that."

"And would you look at that, we're back to you being narcissistic again. I almost thought there was something wrong with you for a moment when you went a whole ten seconds without stroking your own ego." She started up the stairs.

"Do you even realise how much of a bitch you're being right now?"

"Oh so because I'm standing up for myself, I'm a bitch, is that it? Women should be seen and not heard, is that the new regime?"

"What are you even on about, you silly bint? You're being a bitch because you turned what could have been a conversation into a full blown argument!"

"No. You did that when you wouldn't take me seriously out there. If you weren't going to have faith in my abilities then why did you even get me a fucking wand in the first place?"

"How many times do I have to tell you I do have faith in you, Granger?"

She turned to face him as she reached the landing. "You don't have to tell me, Malfoy. You have to show it. And you out there, treating me like a kid who can't even do a disarming spell properly… it hurts, Draco."

She looked at Draco's slightly taken aback expression and before he could retort, she slammed the bathroom door between them. Sliding down to the floor and leaning against the wall, she couldn't help but keep the slight smile from her face.

The last couple of days, since she'd come back from the Manor, Draco had been balancing on eggshells around her. It was like he thought she was going to break if he even joked with her. It had taken two days of convincing and pleading and – Circe forgive her – _pouting_ , to get him to agree to practice some combat spells with her. He had been happy to help her with simple spells – not that she needed it – but when it came to more serious stuff, he had been really fucking annoying and evasive. Hopefully this argument would get them back to normal.

Of course, it hadn't exactly helped that there had been this weird tension between them. She knew she saw Draco differently now compared to when she first got here – he certainly wasn't the guy she'd expected him to be. It was that morning after she'd got back from the Manor that had changed things for her. When she'd woken up, and he wasn't there. She'd been scared for herself, sure, in that brief moment between sleeping and waking, wondering whether maybe Lucius was in the house. But she'd also been scared for Draco. She hadn't realised what the feeling was until later, but she was sure, she'd been so worried something bad had happened to him. And that worry, that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, had subsided when he'd held her, but had left something else in its wake. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. But something that made her stomach do a little jump when he looked at her in a certain way, and made a blush creep up her cheeks when Theo made inappropriate jokes about the two of them, and made her heart beat faster when they touched.

She'd analysed the responses and come up with two conclusions. Number one: she was coming down with some sort of weird illness. Number two: she was falling for him. When her brain came up with that conclusion she laughed to herself. _No, don't be so foolish. I can't be. He's a Death Eater. I must be coming down with something if my brain thought that was a reasonable conclusion_. She'd thought to herself.

"Granger," She heard Draco sit down on the landing on the other side of the door. "You can't hide in there. You're going to have to come out eventually."

She stayed silent.

"I do have faith in you." He continued. "I promise I do. I just- you only came back from being tortured two days ago. I know you need to practice combat and protecting yourself and dodging spells and all that. I just don't want to hit you with one you're not ready for. I couldn't do that to you. And I know you need to get back to where you were before. I do. It's just a scary thought. I don't want to think of you out there in a battle or something getting hit by a curse that could- I can't think about that.

"That's why I was holding back. I- I can't promise you I won't again. But I'll try. Maybe we should have Theo there. He might bait me into giving it my all." He chuckled slightly.

She bit her lip to stop herself from responding. She really liked being stubborn sometimes.

"Please, Granger. Come out. Or at least say something."

She would just let him stew a little bit longer.

"Merlin. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I didn't show my faith in you. I just don't want to lose you or see you hurt. Please believe that. You mean too much to me."

And with that she reached up and opened the door a crack. He turned as soon she did and put his foot in the door so she couldn't close it again. Clever dick.

"I'm sorry. Please come out."

She opened the door the rest of the way and sat cross legged in front of him. She noticed he mirrored her position almost immediately.

"I'm sorry I called you a silly bint, too." He said and placed a hand on her knee.

"I'm sorry I called you a holier-than-though, narcissistic prick with an ego complex." She smirked, not looking up at him.

"There's that smile." He said and her stomach did that flip when she saw how he was looking at her. She really must remember to take some medicine later on.

"I missed you." She said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and she saw that adorable little furrow in between his brows. Wait, adorable? Did she really just think that about Draco Malfoy? She definitely needed some sort of medicine to get rid of this bug hanging round her.

"You've been weird with me the last couple of days. Like you were walking on eggshells. I missed you. The real you."

"I've been worried about you, Granger."

"Yes, I think you mentioned that." She smirked.

They looked at each other for a moment and then he reached up and tucked an escaped curl back behind her ear. She felt his hands linger a little and she felt her temperature go up. What was she coming down with? They were too close. She could smell coffee on his breath. This wasn't right. She stood up quickly.

"Did you want to start practising the Patronus charm tonight?" she smiled a little too widely as he stood up.

"I don't think I'm quite in the right mind for it after that argument. How about we start it tomorrow?" he said. "Fancy a drink? I have some research to do on the wards if you'd like to help me?"

"Sounds perfect." She said and bounded down the stairs ahead of him, trying to control the blush that was still on her cheeks.

* * *

 **A/N:** I felt like it had been too long since we'd had an argument between them so thought I'd throw a quick little argument chapter in ;)

Also, this is a short update 'cause I've been binging on How To Get Away With Murder and just watched the finale :O so now I have to go lie down for a week and recover.

Please review and let me know thoughts/comments/criticisms etc!


	13. Chapter 13

She absolutely did not have a crush on Draco Malfoy. No. Most definitely not. There was no possible way that she – logical, prudent Hermione Granger – had developed a crush on Draco Death Eater Malfoy. But that really was the only available explanation, wasn't it? Two weeks had passed, it was now the middle of December, and her symptoms of a cold or flu or whatever it was had not lessened. If anything, they'd gotten worse. She was finding it particularly hard to concentrate when he was around. She'd only get through a couple of pages of reading before her eyes drifted to watch him. Every time he touched her – whether it was a shoulder squeeze or a slight touch while handing her a book – her skin tingled and she had to fight to control the blush that flooded her cheeks. She couldn't possibly have a crush on Draco Malfoy.

And what was more embarrassing was that Theo seemed to have picked up on it, because he was making more and more jokes and thinly veiled allusions to the two of them. She found herself watching Draco's reaction more often than she'd like (it didn't matter what his reaction was because she _did not_ like him). But he didn't let a lot show. Theo's remarks were usually met with an eye roll or a glare or just downright ignored.

She'd never really thought of Draco as attractive. He'd always had the smug face of a spoiled brat and that had put her off ever trying to find any beauty in his features. But lately… there was just something about him. Maybe she'd finally shaken off her idea of him as a spoiled little rich kid and a bigoted Death Eater. Because the smile he gave her sometimes just confused her. And when he called her by her first name, he had this little lilt to his voice that caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

She couldn't have a crush on him… could she?

The answer to that question came the week before Christmas, on a grey and drizzly day. She'd spent the whole day in a homesickness-induced lethargy, and hadn't gotten dressed or washed at all. She missed her friends and her parents. What was worse was that she didn't even know if any of them were safe.

When Draco got home, he found her sitting on the kitchen floor, leaning against the doors and looking out at the rain. She felt tears prick her eyes when, instead of asking her what was wrong and trying to get her up, he simply sat down beside her in silence, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and coaxed her away from the window and into his chest. She closed her eyes and he stroked her arm and placed a kiss on the top of her forehead.

After a while he spoke and encouraged her to get up and help him with decorating the living room. She got up slowly and started conjuring decorations with little enthusiasm, but she quickly improved and by the time a couple of songs had gone by on the record player, Draco and her were laughing and joking and she had actually gotten him to wear a Santa hat after a little persuasion.

When she was happy with how everything looked, she stood and admired their work.

"You look a lot happier now than when I got home." Draco remarked with a smirk, as he draped an arm around her shoulders.

"I am." She nodded and smiled wider. "Thank you."

"And you're sure about staying here for now?"

"Positive." She looked to him standing beside her and before she could think it through she entwined her fingers with his hand on her shoulder. "If I couldn't be with my family, you're the next best thing."

She went to place a kiss on his cheek, but he pulled her into him at the same time and her lips landed a lot closer to his mouth than she had intended. Like, _a lot_ closer. But he didn't push her away like she thought he would. He still had one arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her heartbeat sped up as his other hand found its way to rest lightly at her hip. His eyes hadn't moved from her own, and there was such an intensity in them. _God_ , those eyes. When she finally broke eye contact and looked briefly at his lips he brought the hand from her shoulders to cup her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was very aware of how loud her heartbeat was and how quickly she was breathing. Merlin, he could probably hear her heart beating, it was pounding so loud.

She needed to do something – to say something or move away from him – but she found that none of her muscles seemed to be listening to her. He was so close to her. She opened her eyes and he was still looking at her. He was rubbing slowly back and forth with his thumb along her cheek. He was leaning in, she was sure of it. And she had no clue what to do. What would she do if he kissed her? Apparently, since none of her muscles seemed to be working, she'd just have to let him.

"Honey, I'm home!" Theo called from the hallway as she heard the front door close.

And just like that, her muscles snapped back into action and she leapt away from Draco as if he had scolded her. She turned her back on him and ran a hand through her hair to calm herself down.

"Wow, this place looks great. You got Draco to help you do this, Granger? What did you have to do to him for that?" Theo joked as he walked into the room.

"Theo! Hi!" Hermione was aware she sounded overly bright, but she couldn't help it. "You're over later than usual!"

"Yeah, I had to deal with a few things at home. Are you okay, Granger? Your chest is all blotchy."

"Oh, um, it's nothing. Just a reaction to some of the decorations probably. Well, I'm going to go take a shower while you guys start on dinner." She walked briskly from the room and up the stairs.

"Everything okay, mate?" she heard Theo ask as she walked up the stairs.

"Apart from your impeccable timing? Fine and dandy, mate." Came Draco's sarcastic reply.

She shut the bathroom door and sank to the floor. She had just almost-kissed Draco Malfoy. Not only that, but she'd been _disappointed_ when it didn't happen!

Oh Circe's ghost, she was in real trouble. There was no denying it now. She most certainly did have a crush on Draco Malfoy. And a rather big one at that.

* * *

Draco had now fully accepted the fact that he was fucked. He was – what was that Muggle phrase? Head over feet? Whatever it was, he was screwed. He had fallen for Hermione, and fallen hard. It had been nearly a week since he'd almost kissed her, and they'd both been pretending that it hadn't happened. He had noticed that Hermione was finding it difficult to remain happy and positive about Christmas. Although she often tried to hide it from Draco, he could still see her longing for her two best friends and some semblance of family. He hated himself for keeping her here. In fairness, he had offered to part with her earlier than the original plan, but Granger was nothing if not a stickler to plans. She had said it would mess up the plans if she left now. She had said that although it would undoubtedly make her happy to see some old faces, it would take a lot of her strength to get back and relive her ordeal again for them. She'd also said she would rather not be around other mourning faces. Then she'd embraced him and thanked him sincerely for the offer. It had not been a sincere offer, however. He knew when he offered it that she would turn it down.

He wanted to make her forget, if only for an afternoon. He wanted to do something for her. He needed to. He felt so guilty having her here, without her friends or family. It was his fault that she had nothing left in this world.

He came to his decision quickly and ran through what could go wrong. There wasn't a lot that could go wrong he surmised.

And so, on the 23rd of December, Draco woke with a rare smile on his face. The weather seemed to be mimicking his mood, as the equally rare December sun was beaming down. He went downstairs to start on breakfast, and Hermione was down not long after. She set about making coffees while he placed a stack of toast on the table along with various jams and spreads. He was trying not to let his good mood show, but he was doing a poor job of it apparently.

"What's up with you?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow as they sat at the table.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, smothering raspberry jam on his toast.

"You're smiling." She said, her eyebrow still raised and her eyes slightly narrowed. But there was a definite smirk playing at the corner of her lips.

"And?" he demanded.

"It's creepy." She said, taking a bite of toast. "No one smiles this early in the morning without ulterior motives."

"Maybe I do have ulterior motives Granger."

"Oh, do enlighten me, Malfoy." She leant her chin on her hand and stared at him, still smirking.

"After breakfast." He said and carried on eating.

He got up and cleared the dishes away after they had both finished. She stood and said she was going to shower, seeming to have forgotten about his ulterior motives. He followed her upstairs.

"Hurry up in there Granger. We've got a busy day. And I'd dress warm if I were you." He smirked as he walked past the bathroom to his bedroom.

She called him back however. "What do you mean? What's going on today?"

"I'll tell you when you're ready." He smirked and leaned against the doorframe.

"You'll tell me right now, Malfoy!"

"I'll tell you when you're dressed, Granger. And don't take too long, I need to shower too."

"I'm not leaving this room until you tell me, Malfoy." She lifted her chin in her patented Granger move of defiance.

"Ooh, are you suggesting showering together, Granger? I think I like that idea." His smirk broadened as her face reddened.

"No I was not suggesting that and you know it! Must you be so lascivious?"

"It's part of my undeniable charm, Granger." He winked.

"Well, I'm not getting ready until you enlighten me as to what I'm getting ready for!"

"Can't it just be a bloody surprise?" he sighed.

"No! I demand to know. I'm not showering or getting dressed until you tell me."

Merlin, she was infuriating. And fucking stubborn. But he could be stubborn too. Instead of just telling her – which was probably the more sensible, detached thing to do – he bent down and slung her over his shoulder.

"Malfoy, get off me! What the hell are you doing?" she shouted and slapped his back repeatedly.

He put her down in the tub and turned the shower on full blast before she could move out of the way.

"Holy shit!" she screamed. "That's fucking freezing!"

"Language, Granger." He smirked as he watched her try to scrabble out of the tub.

"I'll give you fucking _Language, Granger_." She spat and her hand shot out, grabbing his wrist and pulling him forwards. A combination of her regained strength and him being caught off guard meant that he actually stumbled and slipped, falling unceremoniously into the tub on top of her. The water was fucking freezing.

"Ow. Shit." He muttered as he attempted to reach to turn the temperature up. She laughed beside him.

"You're an idiot sometimes, you know that?"

He gave her a quizzical look.

"Just turn the bloody thing off!" she shouted.

"Oh, right." He said. He didn't know how he hadn't thought of that.

"You're a real dick sometimes, Draco Malfoy." She said, but she was smiling. There were drops of water dripping from her eyelashes.

"It's my appeal, Granger." He smiled back. He supposed he should get up and leave her to get ready, but he didn't want to. There was something about her just then, her eyes bright and her face broken into a smile, her wet curls clinging to her face. She looked so beautiful. Her hand was resting on the side of the bath as she looked at him, still smiling. He reached his hand up and put it on top of hers, half expecting her to flinch away, but she didn't. Why was she letting him get close to her? She couldn't possibly trust him, could she? The thought filled Draco with hope and also pity. She was reckless if she did trust him. He was still a Death Eater after all. Her lips were still smiling but her eyes looked at him curiously.

"What are you thinking?" she said, not moving her brown eyed gaze from his.

"Do you trust me?" he blurted out. He hadn't actually meant to ask her that. He'd meant to say nothing.

The words hovered between them for a few moments and her smile faded. He felt a pain in his chest. He had hoped for a second that she did trust him.

"It's okay." He said before she could answer and attempted to lift himself out of the tub. She grasped his hand that was still on top of hers and entwined her fingers with his. He looked from their interlocked hands to her face, which was full of emotion.

"I'm trying to." She said. "I really want to, Draco."

And it was the use of his first name that made his hope surge again and his stomach do a funny little turn.

"I really, really want to, Draco. But there's this voice in the back of my head that won't stop reminding me who you work for. And I know how much you're trying to help bring him down, I do. I'm almost there, Draco. I am. I just need a little more time to trust you fully."

Damn her. Why couldn't she have said no and stormed off to her bedroom shouting obscenities at him? It would make it so much easier if she had. He could forget all his hope then and just focus on his plan of getting her back to the resistance.

She lifted her hand and pressed it against his cheek. They were still staring into each other's eyes. The room seemed thick with tension and anticipation. He turned his head and kissed her palm. Without speaking he leant forward, but the positions they were in, with their knees up in front of them, made it impossible to get any closer. He chuckled, and the anticipation in the air dissolved.

"I'll let you shower." He said and gave her hand a final squeeze before lifting himself out of the tub.

"No joke about staying in here and showering together?" she asked, her face split into a grin.

"Must you be so lascivious?" he echoed her earlier comment, smirking in return.

"I'll get there, Draco." She said as he left the room. He turned and looked at her. "One day I'll trust you."

He nodded and closed the door behind him. Why had he had to ask her if she trusted him? Everything was more complicated now. She'd said one day she would trust him, and his heart leapt at the thought. He cursed it for doing so. It would have been bloody easier if it had been someone else that he rescued from that basement. He knew now that if it had been anyone else, he would have just sent them straight back to the resistance. Let them deal with it. It was because it was her. He knew how important she was and he couldn't have risked sending her back before she was ready, just to be captured again. Sure, he'd hated her throughout school. Not as much as Potty and the Weasel but it was still hate. He had hated how she was smarter than him and how she didn't seem to give a shit when he insulted her and how strong she seemed to be. He had hated how unaffected she was by him. He had hated how she didn't fit into his presupposed expectation of Muggle-borns. He had hated her, partly for her bloodline, partly for her association with Potter and partly because he had envied her.

He had rescued her and kept her and looked after her because seeing her in the state she was in when Theo brought her into that room had shocked him. He'd seen her in that room before, of course. When Bellatrix had her pinned to the floor, screaming her lungs out. That was the moment his hate for her had begun to dissipate. He couldn't match the image of Granger in his head to the creature before him that night. Broken, empty, passive. It just wasn't _her_. And he had needed to fix that, for his own peace of mind as much as for her.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know the build up of their relationship has been very slowwww, so apologies for that! But we're finally getting somewhere - yay! Next chapter is pretty much finished so update shouldn't be too far away *crosses fingers*

And as always - THANK YOU to all you reviewers and everyone that follows and faves!


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** You. Guys. Are. FANTASTIC. I can't believe this story has made it to over a hundred followers! Thank you so much to all of you!

* * *

When she was showered and dressed, Hermione went downstairs and took a seat on the couch in the living room. She was still feeling a little on edge about their exchange in the bathroom. It felt like it had changed something. Saying out loud that one day she would trust him felt like saying out loud that she wanted to keep him in her life. Which was true, when she thought about it. She really didn't want to be apart from him. Despite her crush, she knew they could never be romantically involved. This world wouldn't allow them to be. But if this world was on the cusp of changing, would she want them to be? Besides, she didn't know what his feelings for her were. She suspected he felt something for her, otherwise he wouldn't have looked so hurt when she said she didn't fully trust him yet.

She shook the thought from her head as Draco entered the room, wearing black trousers, a thick black jumper and a thick travelling cloak that was so dark green it was almost black. He held another cloak and a pair of boots.

"Stand up." He ordered her, as he put the boots on the floor.

She raised her eyebrows at him. Had he still not learned that was not the way to go about getting her to do things?

He sighed. "Will you stand up please?" he asked her.

She smiled and stood. He put the cloak around her shoulders and fastened the clasp at her neck, his fingers lingering a little. The cloak was luxurious. It was black with fine silver stitching around the edges. She had expected it to be heavy considering it was so thick, but it felt incredibly light around her shoulders.

"Are we going out? Like out of the ward boundaries out?" she asked, smiling.

"We might be." He smirked.

She squealed and before she knew what she was doing, she threw her arms around his neck, giving him a quick peck. Then she realised what she had done and blushed. She coughed and let her hands fall back lamely to her sides.

"Those boots are for you." He told her.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she stepped into them. The boots felt like they had been made for her. They were fur lined and suede on the outside and she guessed they probably cost more gold than she'd ever seen in her life.

"It's a surprise." He said. And if he hadn't smiled like he did, with that goddamn glint in his goddamn grey eyes, she would have pressed him for more details again. "We have to change your face first though, unfortunately. I don't think anyone would be impressed to see me rock up with an outlaw who's supposed to be dead."

"I'll do it." She said and walked to the mirror in the hallway.

Using her wand, she changed her hair from brown and bushy to honey blonde and straight. Her eyes changed from hazel to a dark blue and she charmed her nose and lips so they changed shape ever so slightly.

"Am I recognisable like this?" she asked him.

He looked at her, searching her face, and then looked disappointed.

"What? Is it not good enough? Shall I change my hair colour again?" she asked looking back to the mirror.

"No. It's fine." He said. "You just don't look like you. It's weird."

"That's kind of the point, Malfoy." She smirked. "Come on. What's this surprise then?"

He offered his hand to her and without thinking twice she took it in her own. They walked out of the house through the thick layer of snow and past the wards and then she felt the old feeling of apparition as Draco disapparated them both.

They landed in more snow and it took Hermione a few moments to get her bearings. The brightness of the sun glaring off the perfectly white snow caused colourful spots to dance in her eyes as she got used to the glare. It was a glorious day. They were at the edge of a woods. The setting seemed familiar to Hermione, but she couldn't tell from where. Draco started walking and pulled her along, their hands still grasped together. They were approaching a small village from the looks of it.

And then she saw it. A sign was blowing slightly in the faint breeze, a picture of a pig's head emblazoned on it and the words _Hog's Head Inn_ underneath. Hogsmeade. Draco Malfoy had brought her to Hogsmeade at Christmas. She briefly recalled their conversation from a number of weeks before when she'd told him how much she loved seeing Hogsmeade at Christmas, in the glistening snow, with the twinkling Christmas lights adorning the shop fronts.

She stopped suddenly, which of course made Draco stop.

"Alright, Granger?" he said, looking curiously at her.

"You- you brought me to Hogsmeade." She said quietly, searching his face. She half expected it to be some kind of joke. She still didn't expect gestures like this from Draco Malfoy of all people. And why? Why did he have to confuse her like this? Why couldn't he just be the dick Slytherin that she knew in school? Why did he actually have to turn out to be… thoughtful? But then, she had already realised by now, that the Draco Malfoy she had known in school was a completely different Draco Malfoy to the one that stood before her.

"Yes, Granger. Is something wrong?" he asked and took a step towards her, blocking the village from view.

"No, I- I just- Thank you." She beamed and without over thinking what it meant she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. His arms quickly wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer still.

"You're welcome." He whispered into her ear and it sent a shiver down her spine. She moved away but kept her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes, their faces less than an inch apart.

"I mean it." She said quietly. "This is just the best Christmas present I could have, given the circumstances."

"Well, I'm glad you like it." He replied. His breath smelled of peppermint. "I threw away the receipt so you can't possibly exchange it."

She laughed and took his hand again.

"Now, that's a shame." She led him along the street, past the Hog's Head, which was decidedly un-festive, and towards the High Street. As they rounded the corner onto the High Street, Hermione gasped. It was almost exactly as she remembered. She'd expected it to be a lot gloomier, considering Voldemort's reign, but every building and tree was still adorned with wreaths and enchanted lights. She supposed Draco would not have brought her here if it had been savaged by the Death Eaters. She noticed a few shop fronts were empty.

Draco must have been watching her because he said "The village is technically under Death Eater control. Some people left when they took over. Ollivander's is gone. And Zonko's Joke Shop. That would have gone out of business anyway without the Hogwarts students. And Scrivenshaft left as well. It's a shame really. You'd be hard pressed now to find quills as good as hers were."

"Oh, I adored Scrivenshaft's." Hermione pouted.

He chuckled. "Of course you did."

They wandered the street for an hour or two, Hermione entering every shop that was open. Draco stopped her from entering the Post Office, however.

"The Death Eaters run that now. Every single item of post is checked. No witch or wizard who isn't a Death Eater is allowed to keep an owl anymore. If anyone wants to send a letter they have to send it through one of the Post Offices first to be checked. Anyone caught sending unauthorised post is killed."

"That's new. Even if it's just a Christmas card? That seems a little steep."

"Yes well, the Dark Lord isn't exactly mild, is he? Or do you not remember him very well?"

"Of course I remember him." Hermione snapped and stormed up the street. Even as a joke, it wasn't funny. She remembered him every night. His face above her, his high voice yelling _Crucio_ over and over again.

Draco caught up quickly though and grabbed her wrist, spinning her back around to face him. He looked really, genuinely sorry.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think. It's just that you're doing so well, sometimes I forget what you've been through. I know you've been through hell at his hands. I'm sorry."

"Yes, well. Just remember that _I_ don't forget. I still see him and hear him every night. Don't forget that, Malfoy."

"I won't. I promise." He said and tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"I suppose I can forgive you. Especially considering I don't exactly look like myself right now."

They walked on for a little longer before deciding to stop in The Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta was in her usual place behind the bar. However, she did not look as jovial as Hermione remembered her. She seemed to have aged fifteen years since Hermione had last seen her.

Draco and Hermione took a seat at a table in the corner of the bar, taking their cloaks off and laying them over a spare chair. Draco went to the bar and ordered them drinks while Hermione looked around.

It looked the same as when she'd last been here, but it felt different. It was still warm and cosy and the few patrons sitting smoking pipes contributed to the usual smoky air of the place, but the atmosphere was not the same. There was not jovial loud conversations and laughing like she had been used to in her Hogwarts days. It was quiet and although it was still fairly full of customers, the talk was wary and hushed. She glanced around and noticed a few Death Eaters that she recognised. Rodolphus Lestrange sat at a small table on the other side of the room, a tankard in front of him. When she looked at Draco, she saw he was engaged in what looked like a reluctant conversation with Antonin Dolohov.

Draco quickly returned carrying two glasses of whiskey.

"Since you seem to have acquired a taste for it." He said as he passed her one of the glasses.

She had actually. She still hated the burn and the fact that it made her eyes water, but there was something about it that she liked.

"What were you talking to Dolohov about?" she asked, glancing over again as Dolohov joined Lestrange at their table.

"He wanted to know why I was here. Wanted to know if I would take over for him here today so he can go home."

"I hope you told him where to go."

He smirked and raised an eyebrow. "In a manner of speaking."

They were quiet for a minute.

"It's different than before isn't it?" she said. "It doesn't feel quite the same in here. I can't really describe it."

"It's fear." He said, looking down at his glass. "People are afraid. There are now three Death Eaters in their midst. They don't want to be overheard saying the wrong thing and end up dead."

"Why don't they leave? Like Ollivander and Scrivenshaft did?"

He sighed. "If anyone leaves here to go to somewhere where there aren't Death Eaters, they are assumed to be blood traitors and they are hunted down, along with their families, and either tortured or killed."

He didn't look at her. But she could see the pain and regret etched into his features. They sat in silence again for a few more minutes. She watched as he traced a knot in the wood of the table with his finger. She reached forward and took his hand.

"Let's talk about something happier." She forced a smile, which he returned half-heartedly. "Tell me about your favourite memory from here."

He slowly started to tell her about a time in fifth year when he, Crabbe, Goyle and Theo had tried to steal a bottle or two of Firewhiskey. He started off with little enthusiasm, but Hermione watched with intrigue as he became more and more animated, seemingly forgetting their last conversation. She certainly did not approve of what they'd done, but any story that ended with them having to go to the hospital wing because Madam Rosmerta had jinxed their hands to swell so much that they couldn't hold anything was fine in her book.

He went to get them another drink, even though she was sure she didn't need one. Her head was already starting to feel a little cloudy. But she had decided that she liked the feeling, and didn't ask Draco to get her anything weaker instead.

When he returned he asked her about her favourite memory from there. She told him of when she'd come with Ron and Harry during fifth year, and they'd laughed and bitched about Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad for the whole time. There weren't many memories from sixth year – and she looked pointedly at Draco when she said this – since they were cancelled after Katie Bell was jinxed.

She was managing to talk about her old friends now without bursting into hysterical sobs. It still hurt a hell of a lot, but the pain in her chest when she talked about them was bearable now. It was more like a dull ache rather than a sharp pain.

They sat in the Three Broomsticks, talking and laughing for most of the afternoon. They ordered food to share and Hermione switched to drinking Butterbeer for a little while before going back to whiskey after they had finished their food. It was after she'd lost count of her drinks that Draco got up to go to the toilet before they left. As soon as he did so, Antonin Dolohov stalked over and took the newly vacated seat opposite Hermione.

"So, what's a pretty thing like you doing with someone like Draco Malfoy, I wonder?" he smiled at her, but it was a lecherous smile that made Hermione shiver.

"Oh, I- um…" she said, unsure of what to say, and quite frankly, scared into speechlessness. He had done his fair share of torturing her and she tried not to look directly at him, lest her fear be betrayed. The fuzzy feeling in her brain was not exactly helping either.

"Antonin Dolohov." He said and extended his hand towards her. "I'm a friend of Draco's." There was a slight pause before he said the word 'friend'.

"Elizabeth Brown." She said, a little too quickly, the first name to pop into her head. She took his hand, trying to keep hers steady.

"Pleasure." He kissed the back of her hand. She wanted to cringe away but she managed to keep her face impassive. She wished Draco would hurry up. "So how do you know Draco?"

"Oh, I'm just a friend of his. We haven't known each other long."

"Well, I hope he keeps you in the picture for a little longer, Miss Brown." He said and his eyes drifted from her face down to her chest. She wanted to wrap herself up in the cloak on the chair beside her. She also wanted to hex Antonin fucking Dolohov into next year, but she managed to resist.

Draco returned then, thank goodness. She felt if Dolohov's eyes had lingered on her body for much longer she would have been forced to kick him where it hurt.

"Dolohov." Draco said in a tense voice. "I do hope you are not bothering my friend."

"Not at all. I was just introducing myself to Miss Brown and thinking how it suddenly makes sense that you've been skipping out on certain meetings lately. If I had something this pretty at home, I'm sure I wouldn't like to leave either."

He smiled that same lecherous smile at her again and she forced a small smile back, feeling nauseous. She wanted to hurt Dolohov. How dare he speak about her like that? Apparently Draco could tell her anger was rising because he rested a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Honestly, Draco, how you can bear to keep something this fine to yourself is beyond me. I'd have her on my arm everywhere I went."

Dolohov obviously seemed to think he was paying her a compliment from the way he kept smiling at her.

"Unfortunately, I was never very good at sharing." Draco said sarcastically as he pulled Hermione to her feet.

"Ah yes. Only child syndrome and all that. You're not leaving, are you?" he said as Draco passed Hermione her cloak and fastened his own around his shoulders. "I was hoping to get to know your friend a little more."

"We have a previous engagement, unfortunately." He said and pulled Hermione after him. Dolohov grabbed her other hand though.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth." He kissed her hand again and walked off back to Lestrange. It wasn't until she was pulled outside by Draco that she realised he had put something in her hand. It was a piece of parchment and when she unfolded it and looked at what it contained she couldn't contain her anger.

"He gave me his address." She managed to tell a confused looking Draco. "Is he delusional or something?"

"Probably." He said through gritted teeth.

"I'm half his bloody age!" she ranted as they began to walk and turned off the High Street.

"Like that matters to him."

"And he called me a _thing_. _If I had_ something _this pretty at home. How you can bear to keep_ something _like that to yourself is beyond me_." She mimicked. "It's disgusting. When I was right there as well! How can he think it's okay to speak to people like that?"

"He's a Death Eater." He said as they walked past the Hog's Head.

"So? You're a Death Eater. You don't speak about people like that! And that's another thing," the alcohol and her clouded mind meant that her rant was going on for longer than usual. "Why would he even try anything when I'm clearly with you?"

"Oh you are, are you?" Draco smirked.

"You know what I mean, Malfoy!" she glared at him as he apparated them back to his home. "I mean that was hardly a business meeting between us, was it?"

"It was not." Draco answered.

"Eugh, just the spine of that man! It's repulsive. It's vile. It's-"

"As much as I agree with you about how repulsive that man is, and as much as I wanted to throw him across the room for talking to you like that, why don't we change the subject?" he interrupted her as they entered the house.

"Fine." She said as he took her cloak and hung it up. They walked into the living room and Draco put a vinyl on the record player. She recognised it – he'd played it before – but she couldn't place it. That last glass of whiskey had caught up with her now and the room was spinning ever so slightly. She closed her eyes as she stood in the centre of the room and listened to the music.

"So despite Dolohov hitting on you," She could hear the malice in Draco's voice as he came nearer. "Did you have a good few hours?"

She opened her eyes. He was closer than she thought he was. He put his hands tentatively on her hips as she put her hands around his neck and hugged him. When she pulled back and looked into his eyes, his arms snaked around her waist and met at the small of her back. She could tell he was slightly tipsy too.

"I did. It was-" she sighed happily, trying to search for the right word. "Magical."

He smiled slightly at her choice of words. They were both swaying slightly to the music without really realising it.

"Thank you, Draco." She said as her fingers absentmindedly played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"You're welcome, Hermione." He smiled. And there was that lilt to his voice when he said her name that drove her crazy. And she could swear that he knew it. "Now can we please turn your face back to normal?"

"Oh yeah, of course." She said and they broke apart as she fumbled for her wand.

"Allow me." He replied and as he waved his wand she felt her hair return to its normal bushy quality.

He put his hands on her hips again and pulled her gently back into him.

"You're so beautiful." He said softly as one hand came up to cup her cheek.

She blushed and looked down. "You don't mean that." How could he? She was littered with scars and sullied by months of torture.

"I do." He lifted her chin so she was looking into his eyes. She'd never noticed the tiny flecks of blue that surrounded his pupil. How could she have missed that? They were spectacular. "I promise you I do. I missed your face today. It was odd being with you but not seeing you. It felt wrong."

They stared at each other for a few moments, the tension and electricity in the air was palpable. The song on the record player ended and the next one started. He still had his hand on her cheek, and she could feel his heart beating under her hands pressed against his chest. She looked down again.

"I-" she started to say something but no words came to her. She took a deep breath and met his eyes. He cupped her face in both hands and leaned down towards her, stopping when their faces were a half inch apart. His breath smelled of whiskey. She closed the miniscule gap between them and they melted into each other. His lips were so much softer than she'd expected. He pulled away ever so slightly after a moment and rested his forehead against hers.

"Merlin, you taste so good. God, why did you have to taste so good?" he whispered. "Hermione, if you don't want this, tell me now, please."

Did she want this? Of course she did. Should she want this? Now that was a very different question.

"I want this." She whispered, banishing the thoughts from her brain that might make her say no.

He kissed her again, soft and tentative at first, but then his tongue found its way into her mouth, and it became more passionate. Her hands travelled up and down his arms. One of his hands was in her hair and the other on her waist. He walked her to the sofa behind them and they collapsed onto it, never once taking their hands or lips off each other. His mouth moved from her lips to her jawline and then to her neck. She let out a moan of pleasure and she felt him smile against her skin. She wanted him. This was definitely more than just a crush. Their mouths found each other again as his hands pressed against the small of her back, wanting to pull her even closer. She tugged at his jumper and they broke apart for a second while he tore it off. Then her hands were all over his chest and his stomach. She wanted more of him. She bit her lip as he kissed her neck and she felt his hands under her top, pressing against her skin. Against her scars.

A small voice in the back of her head said to stop. She ignored it, pulling his face up to meet hers again. _You should stop this._ The voice was wrong. She didn't want to stop. She'd been flirting with the idea of her and Draco for nearly a month now and it felt glorious to taste him, to have his lips on her skin. _Stop. You can't trust him._ The voice got a little louder. _Yes I can! He won't hurt me._ She tried to banish the voice. But the voice persisted and as Draco started to lift her top it got considerably louder. _Stop! You wouldn't be doing this if you were sober._ She pulled away from him quickly and stood up, readjusting her top and trying to tame her hair a little.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I'm sorry, Draco. I'm just- I thought-"

"It's okay, Granger." He said.

"I'm sorry." She repeated. She didn't want him to be angry. "Please don't be angry with me."

"Hey," he said softly and placed his hands on her shoulders from behind her. He massaged her shoulders and she relaxed a little, but she still didn't want to look at him. "You don't _ever_ have to apologise for not wanting to, Granger. I'm not angry with you."

"I just don't think we should make any decisions when our minds aren't clear." She said, looking at the floor. If she looked at him properly, standing there topless in front of her, she might just cave again.

"Okay." He answered, pulling on his jumper.

"I need to think." She said, looking into his eyes. Those eyes. They were like the sea on a stormy day. She knew if she looked at them for too long that her inhibitions would melt again, and she knew that would be a mistake. She reluctantly tore her eyes away.

"Okay." He repeated. "Do you want me to make any dinner?"

"Not for me, thank you. I think I'm just going to go upstairs. I might take a bath and get an early night."

"It's only five now, Granger." He said, in a resigned tone. "If you want to avoid me, I'll go and see Theo and get out of your hair."

"It's not that, Draco." She said quickly. "I just- I've had too much to drink and I'm… confused. I just need some time alone."

He let out a heavy breath. "Okay, Granger. Just don't let that brain of yours get overworked, okay? Today doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."

She opened and closed her mouth, wishing there was something else she could say, but nothing came to her. She turned to go but stopped in the doorway.

"Thank you, for taking me to Hogsmeade today. It was wonderful to see it again." She said and smiled.

He nodded. "Night, Granger."

"Night." She replied.

She walked upstairs to her room and collapsed on the bed. What had she just done? Why did things always have to be bloody complicated? Why couldn't Malfoy have just sent her back to the resistance two months ago? She could've recuperated there instead of staying here and actually being forced to see him as a real person, instead of a self-centred, bigoted Death Eater like she'd seen him as before all of this. What did that kiss mean? She obviously liked him, whether she wanted to or not. And if his reaction was anything to go by, he liked her as well. He hadn't shown any sign of wanting to stop.

She'd just kissed Draco Malfoy, and she was pretty sure she would have done a lot more than that had that goddamn voice in her head not had to speak up. If she'd had one more drink, would that voice in her head have been so loud? Would she have stopped it if she'd been drunker? She could only imagine what they'd be doing right now if she hadn't stopped them. A small part of her cursed herself for not having just one more drink. But no, that wouldn't have been right. She'd done the right thing, hadn't she?

She tried to think of what her friends would say to her but that just made her heart ache and her eyes sting. She needed to sort out her emotions by herself.

This was what Hermione Granger was good at. Analysing things and organising things. That was just what this situation called for. If she just separated and organised all the facts and her feelings, then she could analyse things objectively and choose the most logical and prudent option.

But logic and prudence don't always work when it comes to emotions. If she'd always chosen the logical approach, she probably never would have been with Ron, and even if that hadn't worked out as well as they'd hoped it would, she wouldn't have traded it for anything.

She sat staring at the ceiling and thinking everything through for hours. She guessed in the end that all that really mattered was whether she had actually fallen for Draco. And she had, she knew that much. Even if she hadn't before that day, she knew that the moment she saw those lights in Hogsmeade and knew that it was because of him, that she'd lost any last little resolve when it came to shutting down her feelings about him.

She heard Draco come upstairs and go to bed around half 10. She was thinking clearly now. The effects of the alcohol had worn off a while ago. She'd speak to him properly in the morning and they'd get it all straightened out.

* * *

 **A/N:** So they finally kissed! Please review and tell me what you think!

And mega thank yous to Mjzero06, Beth, Judy, amg06113, Zethandrapus, Kiari Ferrari, Honoria Granger, ErikaNeubert, worththerisks, CallmeBexxx, Frogster and all you other reviewers (mega apologies if I've missed anyone, I'm trying to get this chapter up super quickly before I go to work) and to all you followers and favers! Hi-5!


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** I can only apologise for the delay in this chapter! I got hit by _yet another_ cold last week.

I can't get across in words how amazing all you reviewers and followers and favers are! Thanks to all you lovely reviewers on the last chap: hotfoot87, Frogster, ahschung, amg06113, Mjzero06, rachelhanke, CallmeBexxx, , Beth & ErikaNeubert! Keep 'em coming!

* * *

Draco sat reading in the living room for a couple of hours after he'd eaten his dinner. He would have gone to Theo's, but part of him was hoping Hermione would get hungry and come downstairs for some food. Then he could make a joke or a snide comment and they'd either laugh or argue and he could get her out of her own head. He still couldn't quite believe what had happened. And he knew her well enough by now to know that she'd be upstairs, over-analysing every little detail. He didn't want her talking herself out of anything involving him. He had wanted this to happen since pretty much the first month she'd been living with him, although he hadn't admitted it to himself at the time. And it had felt so bloody good to actually taste her. He'd been a little surprised by how forceful she'd been, until she got scared or came to her senses or whatever the hell had happened in her head to make her so jumpy and make her want to _think_. Why did she have to think? He had given in to her, why couldn't she have just carried on? But then, she would have regretted it after. That much he knew. And he didn't want her to regret anything when it came to him. If time to think was what she needed, then he'd give it to her.

When it got to about half 10, he'd decided to give up and go to bed. He suspected that she'd spend the next day or so avoiding him and as much as he told himself it was her prerogative to go back to just using him to get back to the resistance, he couldn't help but run through potential scenarios and conversations in his head, and try to think of witty comebacks and remarks. He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of her in the next room. He wanted her. He had admitted that to himself weeks ago. He really fucking wanted her. Even eating dinner and brushing his teeth thoroughly hadn't seemed to have eradicated her taste from his mouth. He could taste her delicate sweetness and he could practically still feel her lips on his. He banished those thoughts from his mind. There was no point fantasising about something that may never happen. That wasn't pragmatic. He fantasised instead about a world where he was free from the Dark Lord, because that reality was becoming closer each day. He was sure of it.

After about half an hour, when Draco's eyes had started to become heavy, there was a faint knock at his door. Any quieter and he wouldn't have heard it. Maybe he'd been wrong about Granger wanting to avoid him.

"Come in." he said, gruffly.

The door opened a little and he could just about see her silhouette as she stuck her head through the gap.

"Did I wake you?" Granger whispered into the room.

"No." he said into the darkness. He hadn't sat up. What was she doing? "I said come in, Granger."

She closed the door gently behind her and walked further into the room. There was just enough light in the room that he could see her outline, but nothing else.

"Um, I'm not sure why I'm here." She said quickly, still standing in the middle of the room. "I heard you come to bed and I thought we could talk in the morning but then I couldn't sleep and-"

"Granger." He interrupted and shuffled to one side of the bed, lifting the cover for her. As soon as he did she climbed in beside him and settled herself with her back against his chest. Her hair took up most of the pillow. He laid a hand across her stomach which she entwined with her own.

"So does this mean today meant something after all?" he whispered in her ear.

"I think so." She whispered back and turned her head to meet his lips. Her pupils were huge in the darkness. "I'm not sure what though. We can talk about that in the morning."

He could hear the smile in her voice as she turned her head back.

"If we must." He replied. He used his free hand to move her hair off her neck and kissed the sensitive spot under her ear. She tilted her head slightly to give him better access so he carried on, kissing her neck and her shoulder tenderly. She let out a satisfied sigh.

"That's nice." She said sleepily.

Her breathing slowed and he lay his head back on the pillow. He felt different. It had been so long since he'd actually been happy he wasn't even sure if that's what he was feeling. And he didn't want to give himself false hope by defining his emotions as such. Content, he decided. That's what he was feeling. And as his eyes got heavy again, he pulled her closer to him and buried his face in her hair, just to be extra sure he hadn't imagined it.

* * *

He woke up the next day to the light glaring through the gap in his curtains. Before he opened his eyes, he was worried she might have got cold feet again and left so he was pleased to note that she was still there, curled on her side facing him. He watched her sleep for a little while, thinking about what had gone through her head to make her decide to come into his room the night before. He couldn't help thinking how perfect she looked as she slept, her cheeks pink and her lips full from warmth.

She opened her eyes slowly and stared at him for a moment before a sheepish grin split across her face.

"Morning, Granger." He smirked.

"Morning, Malfoy." She grinned back. "Happy Christmas eve."

"Oh, are you an early Christmas gift for me?" he said as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Please, I'm not just for Christmas, Malfoy." She scolded, jokingly.

He smiled and as he did so she pressed her lips against his and put her hand on the back of his neck to pull him even closer. He closed his eyes and kissed her back passionately, letting his tongue explore her mouth. He ran his hand up her waist under her pyjama top and then pressed his hand against the small of her back. He pulled her body into him and peppered kisses along her jaw and then sucked and nibbled at the spot below her ear. She let out a quiet moan against his ear and then he felt her hands against his chest and she pushed him away slightly.

"See, this is why I wanted to talk." She said and shuffled away slightly. "My head goes all cloudy when you kiss me."

"I will point out, Granger, that you were just the one to kiss me." He smirked.

"I know." She said. "I just- I get that close to you and it all goes funny and all my reasoning and logic goes. And I can't have that. We need to talk about this."

"Okay, shoot." He said. He could practically see the questions hanging off the edge of her tongue.

She looked at him for a moment, seemingly trying to put the words together in her head.

"What is this?" she blurted as she sat up and crossed her legs.

"I'm not sure, Granger." He said and sat up against the headboard facing her. And he honestly didn't have a clue what they were. They could not have any semblance of a normal relationship with the world in its current state.

"How do you feel about me? Because if I'm just some convenient lay for you then-"

"Are you serious?" he asked incredulously. "Granger, no offence, if I wanted an easy and convenient fuck there are probably a lot of girls that would be willing to oblige."

"That doesn't exactly make me more confident about this, Malfoy." She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm trying to make you feel better, Granger. If that's why you don't trust me then you don't need to worry about it. If I wanted a _convenient lay_ I would not go to someone I am emotionally involved with."

"So you are emotionally involved then?" she asked, staring at her fingernails.

"Yes, Granger. I think it's safe to say that I am not looking for a quick fuck. It would probably be a lot easier for me if I wasn't emotionally involved. At least then I'd probably be able to get you out of my goddamn mind. You're infectious, Granger, I swear."

He saw the corners of her mouth tilt up slightly.

"Since when?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since when have you been emotionally involved? Since when have you wanted this?"

He thought for a moment. If he was honest he'd been emotionally involved since he saw Theo drag her into that room. That was why he'd saved her. But it hadn't been the same back then. It was more that he was emotionally involved in his plan and her part in it rather than in her.

"I think it was when I realised how much strength you have. I couldn't understand how one person could go through so much sadness and torture and still be strong and have hope. Maybe a couple of weeks into you living here."

"That long?" her eyes widened.

"Well, I guess at first, it was more of a fascination with you. And I knew you'd be a huge part of the plan. I knew you were smart, but I had definitely underestimated you. Then I couldn't get you out of my head. It became about more than the plan and getting you back to the resistance."

He was saying too much. He was going to scare her away. But her expression kept him talking. She was looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time. He so badly wanted her to trust him. Needed her to if this was ever going to become something more. If baring his soul was the key to that then he'd do it.

"I think it was about a month ago."

"What was?" she asked.

"That I realised I'd really fallen for you." He said without looking at her. "When I came home and you weren't here."

She reached for his hand and entwined her fingers with his.

"What about you?" he asked her. "Are you emotionally involved?"

"Of course I am, Draco."

"Since when?"

"I'm not sure. I've been shutting down feelings for a while, Draco. That's what I needed to think through last night. I think I realised I was shutting down my feelings maybe two or three weeks ago. You have to understand that I still have who you were in school in my head, and I know that you're a completely different person now. But it was hard for me to separate them sometimes. How could I be attracted to the dickhead in school who insulted me and called me a Mudblood and made my life miserable at every chance he got?"

Draco cringed. He hated himself for who he was in school. He couldn't imagine saying any of those things to her now.

"Then, yesterday, when you took me to Hogsmeade… it was like my last bit of resolve disappeared when I saw that village. I knew then that I wanted… something with you."

"What do you want, Granger?" he said quietly. "What can I do to make you trust me?"

"I don't know, Draco." She had his hand in both of hers now and was absentmindedly drawing patterns on his skin with her finger. "But the best way to find out if you can trust someone is to trust them, right? According to Ernest Hemingway anyway."

Draco recognised the name but couldn't place it. "Was he in school with us?"

She laughed. "No. He's a Muggle writer."

"That's kind of a tautological argument, Granger." He raised an eyebrow.

"The point I was making, Malfoy, was that maybe I should just trust you, and then I'll see whether I was right or not." She said. "There's no point us going into anything half-heartedly. So we're either all in or nothing."

He grabbed the back of her neck with his free hand and pulled her forward. He kissed her gently and then rested his forehead against hers, staring into those gorgeous brown eyes.

"I'm all in, Granger." He said and watched as her face broke into a smile. Merlin, she was beautiful.

She swiftly kissed him again and then bit her lip.

"Me too." She said, still smiling.

She moved to sit next to him and he put an arm around her as she rested her head on his chest.

"I can't believe I'm actually trusting a Slytherin and a Death Eater." She said and bit her lip again. "This is insane."

"Hey, I'm in bed with a Gryffindor and a third of the Golden Trio so I think we're both probably insane." He quipped.

"Well, at least we've got that in common." She laughed.

Draco stroked her arm and placed a kiss on the top of her hair.

"What are we going to do when I go back to the resistance, Draco?" she asked quietly, a few minutes later.

He'd been thinking the same thing. She was getting stronger every day. It was a matter of weeks until she would be ready to go back and they could put their plan into action. Draco was also worried about telling her about Weasley. He had no idea how she would take the news. She'd finally decided to trust him and in less than a month he'd probably be breaking that trust. Would they be able to get back from that? Maybe he should tell her sooner. But he didn't want her running off without giving him a chance to explain himself. But she couldn't really go anywhere could she? It would be better if he told her sooner, because he'd have more time to explain properly, right? He wouldn't break her trust. He wouldn't give her a reason to never speak to him again. Today. He'd tell her today.

"We'll figure something out, Granger."

* * *

"I have something to tell you both." Draco said as he walked into the living room later that day. He'd decided it would be best for Theo to be there when he told Hermione. Theo had a knack for diffusing situations.

"Uh oh. That sounds very serious for Christmas Eve." Theo answered. He was sitting at one end of the sofa, Hermione at the other, with her feet in his lap.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Not exactly."

He saw the two of them exchange a look, and she set her book down on her lap.

"What's going on, Draco? What's happened?"

"Uhm-" Where to even start?

"Mate, sit down and spit it out, will you? You're making me nervous."

"It's about Weasley." Draco said as he sat on the armchair across from them.

"Weasley?! As in Ronald Weasley? As in Potter's best mate?"

"Draco, what about him?" Hermione said in a tense voice. He could tell she was trying to keep herself composed.

"He's alive."

Theo and Hermione stared at him for a long moment. Oh Merlin, why had he decided to do this?

"Draco, mate, what do you mean?" Theo asked, warily looking between him and Hermione. "If this is some kind of joke-"

"Of course it's not a joke! What kind of sadistic prick do you take me for, Theo?"

"Okay, okay, relax."

"Hermione?" he asked, tentatively. She was staring into space. Theo put a hand on her knee and she jumped.

"No." she said and stood up quickly. "No. You're wrong."

"It's the truth, I promise, Hermione."

"No, he can't be." She walked to the other side of the room. As Draco stood up and looked at her, he could see the tears in her eyes. "Tell me you're wrong. Theo, please, tell me he's wrong."

"I don't think he is, love." Theo said carefully.

"I'm not, Herm-" Draco started to approach her, wanting nothing more than to look into those eyes and plead with her to believe him and forgive him.

"No, don't! Just stay there, please! I don't- I don't know what to do." The tears spilled over and she hugged herself. "You're- you must be mistaken. He died. He was dead. The Snatchers got him and he was killed. He died!"

"He didn't, Hermione. Please, let me explain."

She continued to stand out of his reach, her hands in her hair and tears falling silently down her cheeks.

"Sit down, mate." Theo said quietly to him, as he walked over to her. "Granger, you know Draco. You know he wouldn't lie about something like this."

"No. He's dead. I mourned him. He has to be. You don't mourn the living. He's gone."

"Granger." Theo said as he put a hand on her arm and guided her back to the sofa. Why the hell wasn't she shouting at Theo to leave her alone? A spark of jealousy rippled through Draco as he watched Hermione sit beside Theo, causing his hands to tighten and his jaw to tense.

"He can't have been alive this whole time without me knowing." She said, her voice coarse.

"Ssh." Theo said as he tentatively put an arm around her shoulder. "Just let Draco explain."

Draco pulled one of the armchairs towards the sofa, and sat so close to them that his knees were only an inch away from Hermione's. He so badly wanted to take her hand, to cup her face and press his lips to hers but he couldn't. Not until he'd told her the truth. He watched as she sniffed and dragged her hands across her cheeks to wipe her tears away. She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. God, he hoped she wouldn't hate him after this.

"I want to be completely candid with you Hermione. Especially after…" He glanced at Theo. "After what we spoke of this morning."

"Go ahead, Draco. I need to know."

* * *

He was alive. Ron was alive. She still couldn't get her head around it.

She'd sat on the sofa beside Theo as Draco told them everything. How he knew that using the Polyjuice would work with her because he'd done it before with Ron. How he wasn't even sure why he'd done it, but he thought it might give the resistance a better chance. How he'd sent Ron to Italy for a month to live before going back to the resistance with strict instructions not to fight or be seen by anyone not involved in the resistance, lest Draco's part in it be revealed. How they'd shaken hands and Ron had thanked him and said that he didn't forgive him for everything he'd done, but that one day he might.

She'd been so hurt initially when Draco had said those two words. _He's alive_. She thought for sure that he must be mistaken, and then a vicious voice in the back of her mind had suggested he might be lying to hurt her and she had foolishly listened to it for a few moments and thought how stupid she had been the previous night. She had planned to sit stoically through whatever bullshitty explanation Draco deigned to throw at her, waiting patiently for when he would say he was lying and taunt her with it. That vicious voice, however, was silenced within two minutes. She had reached for Draco's hand around the time he was explaining how Ron had been brought to the Dark Lord. As soon as she'd even made a slight move towards him he had her hand gripped tightly in both of his.

When he finished, the three of them sat in silence, Theo's hand resting on Hermione's back and Draco leaning forward, resting his forehead against their clasped hands. The clock on the mantel ticked on and on.

"Draco." Hermione spoke first, her voice tight. "Why tell me this now? Why not before? Or why not wait until I was back at the resistance to find out for myself?"

"After everything that happened yesterday, and what we spoke about this morning, I couldn't go on hiding anything from you." He spoke without lifting his head from their clasped hands. "If you've decided to trust me, as you said you had, you have to know what you are trusting. You have to know it all. I couldn't keep it from you and watch your trust be teared away when you found out later. I couldn't do that to you. To me. To _us_."

When he finished speaking, Hermione felt Theo remove his hand from her back. Well, so much for keeping him in the dark about their little situation.

"I'm going to go and make coffees." Theo announced and left the room hastily.

"Draco." She said. "Draco? Draco, look at me."

She prised one of her hands out of his grip and used it to lift his head up, to look into his bloodshot eyes. She was aware that her eyes were still shiny with tears, but now that the news was sinking in, they were happy tears.

Ron was alive. She could see one of her best friends again.

"Forgive me." Draco pleaded.

"For what?" she asked.

"For not telling you. For giving you yet another reason not to trust me."

"Draco, remember what I said this morning? That still stands. I'm still deciding to trust you. I don't know why you think that you saving my best friend's life almost a year before we'd even shared a kind word would change that. I didn't doubt that you wanted all this resistance stuff, but knowing that you've wanted it for so long, so intensely? Intense enough that you would save the life of a boy you hated from a family you were taught were not all that much better than my blood status? That's amazing, Draco." She had his face in both of her hands.

"So, you're not going to try and find him to see if I'm right?" Draco asked, drawing patterns on her knees with his fingers.

"I believe you, Draco. I'll see him when I go back. I'll need the time in between to adjust to the idea anyway."

"So, you don't want to leave here?" And she knew what he meant by _here_. _You don't want to leave me?_ was what he was really asking.

"I told you this morning, Draco _._ I'm all in." she said and pressed her lips against his. "As much as I want to see my best friend, I am fully aware of the fact that I am not yet ready to join the resistance. Physically, mentally or emotionally."

He reached up and traced her lips with his thumb.

"How could I possibly deserve you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't say things like that. I'm here, aren't I? I'm here because I want to be here, not because I have to. I could just as easily go back to the resistance and get better there. I just know I'm not ready for that. I'd rather be here for now. With you."

He kissed her again and then rested his forehead against hers. She was close enough to see the flecks of blue in his eyes again.

"I'm so glad you're here. You have no idea." He whispered. She wasn't used to seeing him this open. He'd shown his vulnerability to her so few times since they'd known each other.

Theo came back in then, levitating the three mugs of coffee in front of him. As soon as he set them down on the coffee table, Draco sat up straight and his mask fell back into place.

"I may have spiked them a little. I thought it might be needed." Theo smirked. "And it is Christmas after all."

* * *

 **A/N:** So there's chapter 15 guys! I have to be honest, this chapter gave me A LOT of trouble and I'm still not sure I'm totally satisfied with it. So let me know what you think, good or bad! Again, there may be a while until the next update - life is getting far too much in the way at the mo!

And props to Krumpingxballeri for guessing that Ron was alive, wayyyy back in Chapter 4!


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Surprise! I'm still here! You'd be forgiven for thinking I'd accidentally stepped through a wormhole or some shit given the length of time it has taken me to update. Apologies all round!

Also, when you get to the third part of this chapter, I listened _Dance So Good_ by _Wakey!Wakey!_ to help me write it - and you'll recognise a few lines from there in the dialogue.

* * *

It was a brisk December morning, not many days before Christmas. The mountains were dusted with a little snow, but it hadn't made it down the valleys. A man was out walking when he noticed an owl fly overhead. He stood and watched its flight for a moment. When it flew through the window of the rickety little house a little way away, he picked up his pace and almost ran the rest of the way to follow it.

"There's an owl here for you. It wouldn't let me take the letter. Practically bit my finger off when I tried." The woman who was sat at the kitchen table regarded the man carefully. "Are you going to tell any of us who it's from this time or not?"

"Keep your voice down!" He scolded and walked swiftly to the owl who was sitting on the windowsill.

"Someone knows where we are. Someone with an owl. Don't think I don't know what that means. You had better not be putting anyone in this house in danger." She warned.

He ignored her and untied the parchment from the owl's leg. It flew off with a clatter as soon as the letter had been detached.

"Well?" the woman asked. "What does it say?"

He was able to read the contents of the parchment twice before it burst into flame in his hands. Not even a piece of ash remained of it.

The words were burned into his brain and he dropped into the seat next to the woman.

"What is it? What's happened?" she asked, sounding worried.

"She- she can't be." He muttered to himself.

"Who? For Merlin's sake, what's happened?" she was getting a little frantic now, tears forming in her eyes.

He swallowed. "She's alive."

The parchment had contained three sentences.

 _Granger is alive. Don't do_ _anything_ _until she's back. She'll be with you soon enough._

* * *

Christmas Day passed, in what was a lazy mixture of eating, reading, drinking and reminiscing, as the best Christmas Days go. If Hermione forgot about the circumstances that had led her to Draco, if she forgot about the circumstances beyond the ward boundaries, she could almost admit that it was the best Christmas Day she'd had in years. The days between Christmas and New Year's passed in a similar haze. Over the past two months, despite what her logical (and cynical) side tried to tell her, Draco and Theo had become very important to her. Draco, especially. They spent every night in his bed, talking about anything and everything, talking over topics that had been exhausted, neither of them wanting to be the one to turn the light out and go to sleep. And yes, sometimes they put their mouths to better use than talking, but a lady doesn't kiss and tell. At least, that's what Hermione told Theo when he asked her if the mark on her neck was a bruise or a hickey.

Theo stayed for New Year's Eve. They ate dinner and opened a bottle of whiskey that was old enough to drink itself. They spent the final hours of New Year's Eve outside, glasses in hand, the marvellous haze of good alcohol lingering over them all. The three of them lay on the ground, a warming charm set up around them, staring up at the stars.

"Just think. This time next year, the whole world could be a different place." Draco said after a little while.

"Can you imagine?" Hermione smiled. "We should make a New Year's resolution each! Draco you go first."

"That's easy. Destroy the Dark Lord." Draco smirked.

"Theo?"

"I don't make resolutions. They never work."

"Spoilsport." Hermione elbowed him gently in the ribs.

"What about you, Granger?"

"Hmm. How about… Save the world." She giggled.

"Gryffindors." Theo smiled and shook his head.

"You might want to think about your best friend's resolution before you go getting up on your high horse about Gryffindors!"

"You've got a point actually. Mate, I think this one might be rubbing off on you."

"I think you might be right there." Draco chuckled and leaned over to place a kiss on Hermione's nose. "I don't think I'd have it any other way."

Theo groaned and Hermione laughed. "You're so embarrassing." She giggled.

"Mate, she's turned you soft."

"Hey, I'm not taking any responsibility for any soppy romantic stuff that comes out of his mouth." Hermione chuckled and squeezed Draco's hand as she kissed his cheek affectionately. "Well, maybe a little."

Draco just grinned.

"We should make a pact." Hermione said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we should make a pact. A deal. A promise."

"Yes, Granger, I understand what a pact is, thanks." Theo said.

"I mean, if this whole thing works. If we manage to pull it off. We should start a tradition, every New Year's Eve, we'll come here or somewhere else out in the country and we'll drink old whiskey and we'll watch the stars. Together."

"Surprisingly, I think I like that idea. Let's do it." Theo replied.

"I'm in." Draco responded.

None of them spoke what they were all fearing. That they wouldn't be able to go through with it. That at least one of them might be dead in a year's time.

"I'll miss you Hermione." Theo said quietly.

"Now who's the one getting soft, mate." Draco countered with a smile.

"I'll miss you too, Theo. Even if just about putting up with me is the best I've gotten from you." She smiled and elbowed him gently again in the side.

When midnight came, they clinked their glasses and drank "To new beginnings", Theo pointing out how clichéd it was and _you'd think three people as smart as us would be able to come up with something more original_. But Hermione hushed him by placing a quick kiss on his cheek and tousling his hair. Then they lay back down and watched the stars until all three of them fell asleep, thoughts of a better year flitting through their heads.

* * *

 ** _Three weeks later_**

Theo left them alone the night before she left. He'd hugged her tightly, and said that he hoped the next time they saw each other it would be under different circumstances. He still didn't really believe it, but he kept that to himself.

Draco and Hermione sat on the sofa after dinner in near silence. The only sound was the music coming from the record player, a slow and peaceful album.

"I'm scared, Draco." She all but whispered, and burrowed deeper into his side.

"I know, Hermione." He murmured. "Me too."

"I don't want to leave. I don't want this to fail."

"If it fails, it fails. But it's the best shot we've got." He said, playing with her hair with one hand.

"These last few weeks, being here, I've felt safe. Like I could almost forget that what we've been planning is actually real, and not just like an old school assignment or something. When we leave tomorrow, it makes it real again. I guess that's just me. I suppose it's always been real to you."

"Mm. I understand though, Granger."

She could feel his heart beating against her cheek, where she rested her head on his chest.

"It'll be okay, Granger."

"What if it's not?" Her voice broke. "I don't want to say goodbye yet. I know you can't stay. I just... I wish you would."

"Hey." He moved and took her face in his hands. "We don't have to say goodbye yet. I promised you I'd stay a couple of days with you. You're not getting rid of me that easily, okay?"

She nodded and attempted to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Sometimes I wonder how you stay so sad when you're so beautiful." He said.

She rolled her eyes and he kissed her.

"Come on." He said when they broke apart and he stood up as a new song started to play. He cleared his throat and held his hand out to her, a half smile on his face. "Miss Granger, would you do me the honour of giving me this dance?"

She chuckled and placed her hand in his. He pulled her up quickly and held her left hand in his right, while his other hand wrapped around her waist, drawing her close. She placed her right hand on his arm, as a memory of when she had danced with Harry surged its way to the front of her brain. How different this dance was. And yet, how similar – instigated by someone important to her, as a way to make them both feel better and forget, just for a few moments. She closed her eyes as they swayed, breathing in, memorising his scent and the feel of his arms around her. He pushed her away and she twirled and laughed. When he pulled her back he held her even closer as both his arms wrapped around her waist and she rested hers on his shoulders. Neither of them were able to tear their gaze away from the other. She wanted to lose herself in those eyes. There had been something different in them recently. They were less guarded, more open and vulnerable. She loved that he'd let her in, and she supposed something in her own eyes had probably changed too.

She leaned in and pressed her lips against his, relishing in the taste of him as her tongue slipped into his mouth. He kissed her back with fervency and when she moaned into his mouth she felt him smirk that same Malfoy smirk that she used to hate. He brought his hand up into her hair. He gently pulled her head back and placed a line of kisses down her jaw and neck until he got to below her ear, where he elicited a dulcet moan from her and she felt that familiar flip in her stomach.

"Shall we- um- do you want to go upstairs?" she heard herself saying.

He assessed her for a moment. "Lead the way, m'lady."

She took his hand in hers and they walked up the stairs to his bedroom. As they kissed, she let her hand slide under his top and over his skin. They broke apart as she slowly pulled his jumper off, and then she placed kisses down his jawline and neck to his chest. His hand grazed up the outside of her thigh as the other slid under her top and he pulled her closer, his hand splayed across the small of her back.

She waited for the voice in her head to tell her to stop, but nothing came. She broke apart again to pull her own top off and again waited for the voice, but again it didn't come.

"You sure?" he asked when her hands went to his belt.

"Yes. Are you?" she nodded and bit her lip.

"Yes." He nodded and, smiling, took the lip that she was biting between his own teeth, before letting it go and kissing her gently.

It was intense. So intense. She lay in his arms after, their legs intertwined. She was just drifting off to sleep when he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Was that- do you regret anything?" he asked, and she could tell he'd been building himself up to ask that question.

She moved and looked up at him. "Not a thing." She pressed her lips against his. "You?"

He smiled at her, relieved, and she almost blushed at how intimate the smile was. "Never."

He kissed her and then she lay her head back against his chest as he placed another kiss against her hairline. And they both drifted off into a deep sleep, their bodies and minds tangled up in the other.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, again, apologies for the delay. Hopefully the next update will be nowhere near that far away *fingers crossed*

Please review and let me know you're out there and what you're thinking of this story. I love reading reviews and I'm always open to suggestions for the story so hit me with them! You guys keep me smiling!

(Also, I wrote an unrelated Theo/Hermione one-shot for a competition in the time between chapters so have a read if you fancy!)


	17. Chapter 17

"You ready?" he asked, as she walked into the living room, bag in hand.

"No." she scoffed and sat down on the couch. "Are you?"

"Not in the slightest." He said as he leaned forward and picked up a book off the coffee table.

"How much longer?" she asked, glancing at the clock on the mantel and then at the book in Draco's hand.

"About five minutes." He said.

They sat quietly, those five minutes stretching out into something much longer as they both listened to the clock ticking away.

"Thirty seconds." Draco said and stood up, holding the book out to Hermione as she stood and adjusted the small bag she was carrying. She took a deep breath and lay her hand on it as she mentally counted down, her eyes closed.

"Three… two… one." She heard Draco murmur, and immediately felt that old, strange feeling of being pulled forward, stomach first. Her feet left the ground and everything whirled about her. But just as quickly, it stopped, and she felt the ground beneath her feet once again.

She opened her eyes and looked around. The sky was a steel grey, the clouds threatening to crack open at any moment and drench the entire valley. There was a house a little way in the distance. It almost reminded her of The Burrow, though not quite as impressive. It seemed to have had fewer rooms added on, and it was in less of a higgledy-piggledy manner.

Draco gripped her hand tightly and kissed her temple. "Come on. Let's go."

They walked towards the house and as they got closer, she noticed the door open and a man step out. His robes certainly weren't up to the bright, outlandish standard she remembered, but she had no trouble recognising Kingsley Shacklebolt.

As soon as she saw him her heart lifted. This was happening. It was real. She couldn't believe she'd be seeing her friends again. Kingsley, who'd been like a kind of uncle to her since she was eighteen. Who had been one of the ones to hold her tightly when she mourned the loss of not one best friend, but three.

She placed a quick kiss on Draco's cheek, squeezed his hand and then ran the rest of the way, throwing herself into Kingsley's arms. He was so shocked, it took a moment for him to return her hug, but he squeezed her tight.

"Hermione." His deep voice vibrated through her bones and brought tears to her eyes. They broke apart when he noticed Draco, and a look of worry spread over Hermione's face as they stared at each other for a moment, before Kingsley extended his hand and Draco took it firmly.

"It's good to see you again, Mr Malfoy."

"Draco, please." Draco insisted.

"Draco. Thank you for bringing Hermione back to us."

He nodded and they dropped their hands. Hermione was grateful when Draco reached for hers and rubbed his thumb across her palm as he entwined their fingers. Kingsley gave them a curious look.

"I should warn you I don't think many of them believed me when I told them about you, Hermione. _I_ didn't want to believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. And although they know a Death Eater is bringing her here, no one knows that it's you, Draco. I wasn't certain you'd be accompanying her."

"Then I foresee a long night of arguments and explanations ahead of us, as it appears I'll be staying for a couple of days, until Hermione gets settled."

At Kingsley's penetrating look, Hermione added "We've gotten close. And Draco knows everything. I'd prefer him here with me for support. If- if that's okay?"

"Of course, Hermione. Follow me." Kingsley turned and they followed him through the door and a hallway. He stopped at a closed door at the end of the hallway – beyond which they could hear a lot of chatter – and turned to them. "Everyone who lives here, which is basically half of what's left of the Order, is here."

He walked into the room ahead of her, but the chatter didn't stop until she took a step into the room, just ahead of Draco. All at once, over a dozen pairs of eyes turned to the pair and the air went silent.

It was almost comical. Draco could only imagine what must be going through their minds as they took in the pair of them. Their beloved Hermione Granger, believed to be dead, turning up with one of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters.

"Hermione!" Ron spoke first and jumped up and ran to her, enveloping her in his arms. "Bloody hell, I didn't want to hope Kings was right. I thought you were dead. Oh gods."

His voice was already laced with tears, and she couldn't even speak as she buried her head into his shoulder and squeezed him just as tight. The lump in her throat burned as she sobbed into his jumper. She couldn't believe she was here. She was back, back where she belonged.

"Are you serious, Kings? _He's_ your contact?" George asked, his wand in hand, seemingly unsure whether to point it straight at Draco or not.

"Yes, George."

"Are you kidding?" Dean Thomas asked. " _Him?_ "

Ron loosened his grip on Hermione and, still keeping one arm around her as she sobbed into his chest, he reached around her and held his hand out to Draco.

"Malfoy." Ron nodded, and Draco hesitated only a split second before reaching for Ron's outstretched hand and shaking it. "Put your wand away, George. He's the one that saved my life. By the looks of things, neither me nor Hermione would be alive right now if it wasn't for his help."

The atmosphere in the kitchen dissipated a little as everyone seemed to assess Draco.

* * *

The next half an hour was filled with hugs and kisses and tears as Hermione got passed around everyone. Draco stayed out of the fray, leaning against the doorway, not really paying attention. Pretty much everyone ignored him. Ron came up to him and thanked him for bringing her back, but apart from that no one spoke to him. He hadn't paid attention to who was there altogether, hadn't really bothered to look at all the faces when they'd first walked into the room. So when Draco looked up to see Hermione wrapped in Blaise Zabini's arms, it was rather a surprise to him. Blaise caught his eye, whispered something to Hermione that made her laugh through her tears, kissed her on the cheek and then made his way past everyone to Draco.

"Draco. It's been a while." Blaise smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Blaise. What are you doing here?"

"Been here a couple of years, mate."

"I thought you'd gone back to Italy."

"And miss out on all the fun and games? Taking down a dictator? Not on your life." He grinned and then hugged Draco. "You have no idea how glad I am to see your face here. I thought they'd gotten to you."

"Never." Draco grinned back.

"And Theo?" Blaise asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Pretty much the same as he always was. He goes along with it reluctantly. He wants this to succeed. But you know he won't go against it, not when he's got people he needs to keep safe."

"And uh- you and Hermione?" he jerked his head back towards her.

Draco coughed and looked back at Hermione, currently being squeezed by George Weasley.

"Seeing what happens."

Blaise nodded and they both looked back at her, just about managing to hold a young boy in her arms as a woman Draco didn't recognise wiped tears from her cheeks.

"Were you close?" Draco asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yeah. We weren't always. It was a little tense at first. She was wary about me for a while. But I can't remember who it was that made a snide comment about me in front of her, but as soon as that happened she was right on my side. You must know what she's like, sticking up for the underdog." Blaise chuckled.

Draco shrugged and smiled slightly. He'd remembered her sticking up for house elf rights or something in school, but he realised he didn't know her as well as he thought.

Blaise seemed to pick up on Draco's hesitancy and said "You'll see it soon enough. Just wait until someone makes a dig at you. She's like a little Rottweiler when she gets going."

"Now that side of her I've definitely seen."

Blaise chuckled again. "Come on. I'll get you a drink. I'm guessing we've got a long night in store."

* * *

 **A/N:** I haven't had a chance to reply to reviews yet so apologies! I'm uploading this super quick before I go away, so next chapter may be a bit of a delay.

Good or bad, let me have it - review!


	18. Chapter 18

A wary silence laced with awkwardness settled over the room after the reunions were over. They had taken cramped seats around the table, just enough room for all but two. Blaise was sat on the counter behind Hermione while Neville leaned against the wall opposite. Hermione was seated at the table, Draco on her right and Ron on her left. Kingsley had taken a seat at the head of the table.

"I'm not exactly sure on where to start with this." Kingsley's deep voice broke the silence. "Hermione, we're not going to make you relive your ordeal-"

"I was captured by snatchers last March. They took me to You-Know-Who. He kept me in the Notts' basement until October, when Draco took me in." she said, quickly and efficiently. "That's pretty much all there is."

"You were- you were in Nott's manor? In October?" Neville asked.

She nodded. They hadn't known.

"That's the one… _shit_." Neville whispered.

"Shit." Dean echoed, as he obviously followed Neville's train of thought.

"We were there." George murmured, staring at the table. "We were there when you were there, weren't we?"

She nodded again.

"Hermione, we're so sorry. If we'd known-" Neville started.

" _You_." Seamus stood up, his voice laced with malice, pointing a finger at Draco. "You were Kingsley's contact. You sent us to Nott's for a reason. You knew she was there, didn't you?"

"You knew she was there and you didn't tell us?!" Dean raised his voice and stood as well.

"I didn't know." Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Bullshit!" Seamus shouted.

"Seamus." Andromeda warned from beside Kingsley.

"He knew! The bastard knew and didn't say anything!"

"Enough!" Hermione raised her voice, and put her hand on Draco's knee, sensing that he was losing his temper. She did not have the energy for arguments. "Draco didn't know I was there. He thought I was dead. Just like everyone else did. Do not start arguments tonight. Please."

And it was the slight break in her voice as she said the please that made Seamus and Dean take their seats again.

"So, Hermione. Draco." Kingsley said. "You have some sort of plan?"

Draco cleared his throat to speak but Hermione cut him off before he could get a word out.

"Yes. Although, I don't think all of you are going to like it."

"Go ahead, Hermione." Andromeda said carefully.

"Well, it sort of involves…" she looked at Draco and took a deep breath. "It's toeing the line of dark magic."

A tense silence settled once again as everyone exchanged looks. Some looked warily at Draco, and Hermione had arguments ready to go on the tip of her tongue if anyone launched anything at him, but it was Ron that spoke first.

He sighed, and said in a resigned tone, "I'll do whatever it takes to get this done. Hell, I'd turn myself into a weird snake man with no nose if it meant getting rid of him."

A few chuckles went round the table, and Hermione noticed that even Draco's lips twitched up ever so slightly.

"So what's the plan, 'Mione?" Ron said.

"We fight dirty." She grinned. "Draco and I have been poring over books and plans for months. We've found some old spells that we think might be useful. It's rather fascinating actually. I think it explains why he's become so powerful. It's all to do with blood magic."

"Blood magic?" Dean asked, a confused furrow between his brows.

"See, when you spill blood, it _does_ something. It's like a different layer of magic. It was used most commonly for marriage ceremonies or in healing, things like that. But it has darker uses too. Like the spell that brought _him_ back. Wormtail had to cut off his hand, sacrifice his blood. Spill blood or sacrifice a life and you can use that to your advantage. Even unwittingly. You-Know-Who has an awful lot of blood on his hands, and that blood, that sacrifice, can be bent a myriad of ways. Hell, he could have used it for something as innocent as making his herbs more resilient."

Neville scoffed. "That'd be one hell of a herb garden."

"That explains why he took the government so easily." Alicia Spinnet mused from next to Seamus. "I don't know much about blood magic, but my grandfather told me a little. Hermione's right. There's a lot of power behind it."

"So, where do we come into this? What ways are we bending the magic?" Hannah Abbott asked, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears.

"Right. Sorry. Well, step one. We do what they do. We start snatching. Draco's got a list of Death Eaters and supporters that won't be missed until half of them are already gone. The second stage is rallying the troops. We make contact with anyone we think is trustworthy. Anyone we think will be on our side. It doesn't matter whether they'll hold up under torture. As long as they won't stab us in the back, they'll do. We get a paper back up and running again, and the radio too. George and Lee, I thought the two of you might like to handle that?"

They seemed a little taken aback at the attention at first but then smiled and nodded. "Definitely." they said at once.

"Everything has to be secretive. Nothing public until we're in a position to do something again. We can go over finer details in subsequent meetings. But the overall thing is taking out the Death Eaters one by one. Minus Draco and Theo of course."

"Theo? Theodore Nott?" Dean asked.

"Yes, Theodore Nott. He healed me several times in those months I was in his basement. Didn't even admit to it until a month ago. He's probably saved my life a few times over by now."

"But he's a Death Eater. He's-" Seamus began.

"He doesn't get hurt." She said forcefully. "I owe him my life, much as I do Draco, and probably most of you. But more than that, he's become my friend. He stays."

Draco gripped her hand and Blaise leaned forward to squeeze her shoulder at her words and she felt the silent thanks in the gestures.

"So, how do we get rid of them? You say start snatching like you think it'll be easy." Seamus asked.

"It won't be easy." Draco said. "But I've got a place ready to go. We just still need to figure out how to get them there. We were thinking untraceable portkeys, but we haven't quite worked out all the kinks yet."

"Kings can help with that." Dean smiled. "He's a pro at portkeys."

"It would be one avenue to discuss." Kingsley said. "I assume the place is warded? Untraceable?"

"Untraceable and unplottable. You can't apparate to within a 200 metre radius. Then that's part of where the blood magic comes in. Spill a little blood and we add an extra layer of protection. It'll render the Dark Mark unusable." Draco responded.

"I suppose we can go into more detail at the meeting tomorrow evening, when everyone is here." Kingsley mused.

"The basic plan is get rid of the Death Eaters until we outnumber them. Then we take him down." Hermione said.

"He still thinks he's invincible, but he can't be. And when he realises he's lost followers he'll start getting careless." Draco added.

"But what about the prophecy?" Neville blurted.

"Prophecies are just predictions. I've managed to continue some of the research into them that I was doing before. They _can_ come true. It doesn't mean they have to. It's like predicting the weather." Hermione explained.

"How do we know for sure, though?"

"We don't. But we've never really known anything about him. Harry got wrapped up in the Deathly Hallows and we still don't know if they are actually real. We went after the Horcruxes on a hunch of Dumbledore's and we all know how well that turned out."

"Hermione. Dumbledore would never forgive himself if he was still here. If he knew that it hadn't worked. He'd never have sent Harry off otherwise." Kingsley said.

"Wouldn't he?" she muttered.

"No! What do you think he was? He was no monster, Hermione."

"He might not have been a monster, but he raised Harry for the slaughter." She tried to stay calm but she couldn't stop her voice from rising as she looked at Kingsley. "From the moment Trelawney gave him that prophecy, that plan was forming in his head. And regardless of whether Harry was willing to do it or not, he still thought Harry was expendable. I'm sure we would all do what Harry did given the opportunity – die to defeat the Dark Lord. But it was just a prophecy. Just a prediction. And Dumbledore should have known that – should have–" She ran a hand through her hair and looked down at the table. "He should have known."

Everybody around the table fell silent. Draco squeezed her knee and Ron took her hand. Even Kingsley looked slightly guilty.

"The future is never set in stone." She said, her voice raw.

"She's right, you know." Luna's dreamy voice permeated the silence. "There's too many variables. And if you get Sporenacks, they affect it as well, of course."

"On that note." Dean smiled and stood. "Anyone want a cuppa?"

* * *

Dean and Blaise made hot drinks for everyone. Draco noticed Hermione smile as her name was magically added to the list pinned to one of the cupboards detailing how everyone took their teas and coffees. He was surprised when he saw his own name appear, just below hers.

As they sat with their drinks, the woman he recognised, who had sat next to Kingsley came over to them. Her face was familiar, like he'd met her before.

"Oh, Draco, you don't know how happy I am to see you here."

The woman pulled him into a tight embrace, before letting go hastily and apologising.

"Draco, this is Andromeda." Hermione said carefully. _My_ _aunt_.

And just like that, he could see it. He knew what he had found so familiar about the woman. Her face resembled Bellatrix's but her eyes were much kinder, and he had never seen a smile like hers grace Bella's face. He could see his mother in her too. Their noses were similar and even the way she held her shoulders reminded him slightly of his mother.

"It's- it's nice to meet you." He said as he stood up – his old etiquette training kicking in.

"Is your mother… okay?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

"She's fine. She left. She's in Spain, away from everything. I can't speak to her much. She's safe though. They can't get to her."

"Good." She smiled and paused. "I haven't seen you since you were a toddler."

"You- Toddler? I didn't think- I thought my family – your family – cut you off." He stuttered.

"Well, yes, they did. But, your mother- well, she stayed in touch here and there."

"She did?" His voice had gone raw.

"I haven't heard from her in nearly ten years. She let me know when you went to Hogwarts. It was the year my Dora graduated. We stopped writing when it all started again."

"She never told me." Draco sank down into his seat. "She never said anything. I thought she'd written you off. I thought-" He took a deep breath. "I thought she thought the same as them."

He put his head in his hands. He'd grown up believing all the tripe about blood purism. Believing that his father was right and that his mother's family was right for disowning their daughter for marrying a Muggle-born. He knew it was all bullshit now. Had known for years. But he'd never entertained ideas that his mother had thought differently. He only thought she'd left because she had gotten sick of that monster in her house. Maybe… maybe it had gotten too much for her, in other ways.

"Your mother never approved of what I did." Andromeda said carefully as she sat down. "But she has always valued family. She's loyal to a fault, your mother. Even when we were little. She may have been the youngest, but she was no less feisty. She'd hex someone for looking at me or Bella wrong."

She paused. His mother _was_ loyal. That's why she'd got Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow. It was why she'd allowed Lucius to let Voldemort into her home in the first place.

"She brought you to see me, when you were just a toddler. It was the first time we'd seen each other since I left. Then Lucius found out somehow, and I didn't hear from her until you were eight. When you fell off your broom and broke-"

"My arm." Draco finished. "I- I think I remember her writing to you. She didn't leave my room for two days. I remember her sitting in the chair and writing."

"I don't think she had a lot of friends. At least not close ones. I remember she said that she just wanted to tell someone how worried she'd been." She paused again and Draco saw her reach out to him before she obviously changed her mind and settled her hands in her lap. "I know it's not the best situation or the best timing, but if you'd like to, maybe we could get to know one another a little better? You can't underestimate the importance of family in times like these."

"I think I'd like that." Apart from his mother, this woman really was the only family he had left. And, he supposed, it was probably the same for her.

She beamed at him and reached out to squeeze his hand, before she stood up. "I have to go check on Teddy. I'll let you get back to Hermione."

He hadn't even noticed her get up. He looked around briefly and saw her talking to Longbottom.

"Teddy?" he asked.

"My grandson." She smiled.

"I didn't even know…" Draco trailed off.

"I wouldn't have expected you to, dear. You'll get a chance to meet him tomorrow."

"I don't really do kids." Draco said as a knee-jerk reaction and then cringed. "I mean- yes, I look forward to it."

She looked like she was going to laugh but she held it back with just a kind smirk and a nod.

"Thank you, Draco. For helping her. Having one of our own back isn't something we dared wish for. So, thank you." She placed a hand on his shoulder briefly and then walked to say something to Hermione. His aunt hugged her tightly and then left the room.

"Draco?" Hermione walked over to him and took his hand. He noticed a couple of looks come their way out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't care. "You okay?"

"Yeah fine, love." He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

"I'm kind of tired, so Neville's going to show me to the room. You want to come?"

He nodded and stood, keeping his hand locked in hers, as they left the room and walked up what had to be at least five flights of stairs and half a dozen corridors – which at least explained the outward appearance of the house. They eventually came to a small room with a single bed, a chest of drawers, a desk and a small bookshelf that was mostly empty.

"Andi donated the bookshelf. Luna donated the desk. She said she prefers to work on the floor because of some creature or other that lives in desk drawers. And um, sorry about the single bed." Longbottom glanced between him and Hermione and then looked back at the bed. "We didn't realise the situation."

"That's no problem, Neville. Thank you." She hugged him. "It's good to be back with you."

"Likewise, Hermione." He breathed. He caught Draco's eye and broke the hug, and his face went red as he said goodnight and stumbled from the room, closing the door behind him.

Draco smirked. "Not everyone has warmed to me yet, I see."

"Give them time." Hermione smiled and slid her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest. He slid his arms around her and pulled her close, breathing in her scent. "They'll come around."

They stood like that for a few moments, just being together.

"How do you feel after meeting your aunt?" She rested her chin on his chest so she could look up at him.

"I'm not sure. It was strange. She told me my mother actually kept in touch. They wrote to each other occasionally while I was a kid."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow, that's… wow."

"I know." He took a deep breath. "She wants to get to know me."

"And do you? Want to get to know her?" she asked. And he knew as he looked at her that whatever his answer, she would respect it and not push him on it.

"I do." He said. "She seems… nice. I'd like to get to know her more. Maybe help bridge the gap between her and my mother so that when this is all over they can be close again."

She smiled up at him. "I'm proud of you. Your aunt and your mother are lucky to have you."

She leaned up and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. He turned his head slightly and caught her lips with his own. Her hands moved from his waist to his neck and he pulled her in closer, his hands on her back, letting their bodies mould to each other.

"Thank you." She whispered against his mouth.

"For that swoon-worthy kiss? You're more than welcome." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "No, you prick. For coming with me. For staying. For everything."

"You don't need to thank me for that."

"I know." She tried to stifle a yawn. "But I wanted to."

"Come on, you. Bed." He yawned as well. They changed and transfigured the bed slightly to give them both a little more room (not that there was much space in their room to make the bed much bigger) and Draco was asleep practically as soon as his head hit the pillow, his arms wrapped around Hermione.

* * *

 **A/N:** How has it been four months since I last updated?! I swear I need a Time-Turner to get some of this year back!

But as always **THANK YOU** to all you lovely lovely people who review and follow and fave this story. It's like a little cyber-hug each time *heart eyes emoji*

Also, I'm on Tumblr now so holla at me! magpiecircus dot tumblr dot com


	19. Interlude

**A/N: Okay, so I know I've been super bad with updates recently and I realised it's because I didn't love where this story was going anymore. So I'm putting _Expectations_ on hiatus for now while I figure some things out in the story line and decide exactly where I'm going to take these characters that I love so much (that JK has lovingly bestowed us with). I definitely intend to finish it. I've just changed my mind about how I'd planned to finish it originally.**

 **Massive thank you to everyone that reviews/follows/faves/cares about this story. I want to send you all the cyber hugs/hearts I can because your words are so encouraging.**

 **Also come interact with me on Tumblr if you want to (don't be shy)! I'm magpiecircus on there too.**

 **But anyway, a quick Theo interlude to give you something in exchange for this story going on hiatus. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

When he shut the door behind him he heard the sounds of glass smashing and crashing coming from the sitting room. He sighed. Was it too much to ask to have a quiet Christmas Eve? First Draco drops that bombshell about Weasley and now he has to deal with his father.

He walked to the sitting room and just watched quietly from the door for a few moments. The drinks cart had been knocked over. There was scotch seeping into the antique rug. The painting above the fireplace was in pieces and smouldering. And Theo's father was standing in the middle of the room throwing the glasses from the drinks cart at the far wall.

"Dad." Theo announced himself.

His father turned sharply. "Oh, there he is. Been off wi' Lucius' boy again 'ave you?" He was clearly drunk and his words were slurring together.

"I've been at Draco's, yes. And I wouldn't call him _Lucius' boy_ to his face. He has a short temper and since he now ranks above you I don't think he'd take kindly to it."

"Bloody Malfoys. Always too big for their boots." He threw another glass.

"Dad. What are you doing?"

"Your mother picked this drinks cart. Don' know why I let her, really. She 'ardly ever used the bloody thing." Another glass shattered against the wall.

"You're wasting good scotch is what you're doing." He walked in and picked up the bottle that was spilling into the rug. "What's got you so worked up?"

"Don' spill that scotch, boy. Almost as ol' as you." He went to grab the bottle off Theo but missed and fell to the floor. Theo tried to help him up but he shrugged him off. "Where's your mother, son? Genevieve! Genevieve, come here! Gennie! Where are you?" He yelled.

"She's not here, dad. You know that. Come on. You need to go to bed."

"Piss off. I need my wife." This time when he went to swipe the bottle from Theo he succeeded and he downed what was left.

Theo sighed. "She's not your wife anymore, dad."

"I loved her."

"If you say so."

"I loved her!" His father pushed him against the wall.

"Okay fine, you loved her. But that doesn't matter now does it!"

From the fury in his father's face, he really thought his father might hit him, but then his face crumpled and he started sobbing.

"Nothing matters." He sputtered through his tears. "Hasn't for years."

Theo sighed. "Come on."

He guided his father to the couch and sat him down. With a flick of Theo's wand, the majority of the damage righted itself. He'd never liked the painting so that was no loss, but the rug would probably mean he'd have to brush up on some of the more complicated cleaning spells.

He summoned a glass and filled it with water, and handed it to his father who had moved to lying down, his head at one end of the couch.

"Drink this."

"Son." His father mumbled and took a sip.

Theo sat on the coffee table in front of his father and made him drink the whole glass of water.

"Why did she leave me? We weren' s'posed to leave each other. Took my Lizzie too. Why'd she have to take Lizzie?"

Theo rolled his eyes. His father did this every time he got this drunk, started rambling about his wife and his daughter.

"You know why, dad." He said gently.

His father closed his eyes. His mother had left when it had all started again. She'd been willing to forgive it the first time around, but not the second. A matter of weeks after Theo's father was publicly outed as a Death Eater, his mother took Elizabeth, who was barely three at the time, and moved to a house that she put under the Fidelius charm, with the Greengrass matriarch as secret keeper.

"Fucked it up. Fucked it all up." He mumbled and Theo had to lean forward to hear him.

"It's better for them to be gone. You know they can't be around this."

His father nodded. "Fucked you up too. One of us now. You shouldn'a been. Shoulda gone wi' your mum."

That was new.

"What?"

"Shoulda gone with Gen. Bloody 'ogwarts."

Theo watched him for a few minutes. Of course his mother had tried to take him for the holidays. They'd exchanged several letters on the topic, but he'd been young and stupid and had wanted to fit in with his friends and impress his father. Draco had told him that one day they wouldn't have to put up with people looking down their noses at them for having fathers in the Dark Lord's inner circle. Well, he hadn't been wrong. What he hadn't known was the fact that both of them would have grown up enough to not want it by the time that it happened.

Theo sighed as he watched his father. "Why can't I hate you, dad? You got me into all this. Why can't I just hate you, like Draco does his father? It would be so much easier."

He wondered for a moment whether his father would answer, but then a soft snoring sound came from him, and he knew that was the end of it. He went to the drinks cart and pulled a hangover potion off the bottom shelf, leaving it on the table next to the glass of water for when his father woke up. He tried a few quick cleaning charms on the rug to get the worst up and decided the rest could wait a few days to be fixed. He was more upset about the spilled scotch than the rug anyway.

* * *

Theo woke early the next morning, panicking. As soon as his eyes shot open, the nightmare he'd been having drifted away and he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it had been about this time. The blind panic was still there though. His t-shirt was drenched in sweat and he'd managed to tangle himself in the bedding. The room felt too stuffy and he couldn't seem to take a breath to make it all go away. He stood and walked to the balcony doors, throwing them open and taking a deep breath of the cold air. He sagged against the balcony wall in relief and took a few more breaths until his heart rate had returned to normal. The sky was just starting to get light but he could still see stars and there was frost on the ground. He felt himself smile. He was seeing his family today. One day of normality in his shitstorm of a life. One day. He envied Draco. How Draco managed to be curating some weird domestic bliss with Hermione in the midst of the dystopia they were living in was beyond him.

After quickly showering and dressing he checked on his father. He was breathing, and he'd have one hell of a sore neck from the position he was in on the couch but he'd be fine.

"Merry Christmas, dad." He said softly before walking out of the house and apparating away to a house in Scotland that was around the same size as Draco's. He knocked lightly once and then opened the door. His mother came rushing into the hall holding a mug in her hands with a tea towel over her shoulder. Her face broke into a smile when she saw him.

"Theo! Oh, my boy." His mother walked up and kissed his cheek before Theo pulled her in for a hug. "You're here earlier than I thought you'd be. I've missed you, darling."

"I've missed you too, mum."

"Come on. Let me look at you." She held onto his shoulders and scanned him, her mug still in hand. "You've lost weight."

He rolled his eyes. "You say that every time."

"Well, you have. You do look less tired than last time, darling." She put her hand against his cheek. "But you do need a shave. And you'll stay here tonight anyway? Get a proper night's sleep? Let me make you breakfast in the morning?"

She said them all with an inflection in her voice that made them sound like questions, but Theo recognised them for the demands that they were and he knew that even if he protested, his mother would not let him leave tonight.

"If you insist." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine, darling. You know me. Same as ever." She smiled, but he couldn't help but think she looked smaller than the last time he'd seen her, and her face looked tired too.

"Lizzie still in bed?" he asked, deciding not to comment on it. Maybe she'd just had a bad night's sleep.

"Yes, I'll put the kettle on and then go and get her up. She'll be over the moon you're here already. She's been raving about her big brother for days. She misses you terribly."

"I miss _her_ terribly."

"Well, well, well. Look what the kneazle dragged in." Daphne's voice came from above him and he looked up to see her leaning against the banister at the top of the stairs, wearing a green jumper over black leggings, her blonde hair in a loose plait down her back. She still took his breath away, even after all these years.

"You get down here now, you old wench." he grinned.

"I'll go put the kettle on." His mother said and squeezed his hand as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Old?" She feigned a look of offence. "I'll admit to the wench part but… old? You wound me Theodore Nott. Need I remind you that I'm two months younger than you?"

"You'd never let me forget it. Pedantic witch."

"Smartass." She smirked.

"Come here." He demanded, hoping she recognised the plea in his voice. And she did. She flew down the stairs and straight into his arms. He held her tightly and she buried her face in his neck. Gods, he'd missed her.

"Theo." She said, and her voice sounded hoarse.

"I'm here." He said and his throat started to burn.

"I can see." She breathed out and it tickled the hair on his neck. "You survived another six months."

"Yep. I live to eat death another day."

She huffed. "Don't joke."

He pulled away slightly and cupped her face in his hands. He noticed the tears in her eyes, a rare sight for Daphne to share with anyone.

"But you're okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." She nodded, her hands gripping his jumper. "Merry Christmas."

He chuckled. "Merry Christmas, Daph."

He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into another hug, giving her time to compose herself before they went into the kitchen.

"So, where's Tori?" he asked as they sat at the kitchen table.

His mother and Daphne exchanged a brief look. Daphne cleared her throat and stared down into her black coffee.

"She's gone." She said and stood up, walking to one of the cupboards.

"What do you mean gone?" he asked.

"I mean she's shacked up with some guy and we've barely heard from her since. Are we out of sugar, Gen?"

"What guy?"

"I got it out already, darling. It's on the table."

"Oh, I didn't see it there." She sat back down.

"What guy, Daphne?"

"Oh, just some guy she knew in school. Ran into him in Diagon Alley in like October, was it, Gen?" she said as she added two spoons of sugar to her coffee and stirred it.

"I think so, love."

"And two weeks later she told us she's moving out to go and live with him, because she _can hardly have a normal relationship when her home is under the Fidelius charm_." Daphne imitated her sister. "Whatever. She's an idiot. She can't come here anymore."

"She changed." His mother said quietly. "Just in that short space of time. There was no talking her out of it. We get the feeling he's a little… possessive."

"Why can't we just bring her back? He'd never find her."

Daphne laughed. "Theo, sweetheart, you know what she's like. She's more stubborn than me! You tell her not to do something, _of course_ she's going to do it. We've made our peace with it. We've just got to let her do her thing."

"Well, who is he? Do I know him?"

"Unlikely. You remember Adrian Pucey?"

"Vaguely. On the Quidditch team? Couple of years ahead of us?" Theo tried to remember him, but he'd been fairly quiet, only socialising with a couple of people in his own year.

"His younger brother. That's the only info we got on him. I didn't even know Pucey had a brother."

"Me neither." He sighed. "At least he's not a Death Eater, I suppose."

"Silver linings, eh?" Daphne winked.

* * *

Theo insisted his mother let him wake Elizabeth up, so while his mother started on breakfast, he crept into her room and knelt by the side of her bed.

"Lizzie?" he said gently, and she started to stir. "Lizzie?"

She opened her eyes and Theo noticed again how similar they were to his own. Hers were far more striking though, much greener than his own.

"Morning, princess." He smiled.

"Theo!" she squealed and jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck, giving Theo a mouthful of her dark blonde hair. But then she suddenly pulled back and crossed her arms, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

"You okay, Lizzie?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm mad at you." She pouted.

"Why's that, princess?"

"You missed my birthday. _Again_."

"Ah, sweetheart, I know. I'm sorry I couldn't come and see you."

"You _always_ miss my birthday." She said, with a slight whine to her voice.

"I really am sorry. It's… it's work. My boss won't let me have time off."

"That's mean."

"He is rather mean." He smiled sadly. "Do you think you can forgive me?"

She pouted again.

"I've got presents for you."

Her expression didn't change. He should have known she wasn't one to be bribed with gifts.

"I'll let you put your vegetables on my plate at dinner." He grinned and she grinned back.

"Okay." she said.

"Come here, princess." Theo said and pulled her into another hug. "Mum's making breakfast. Do you want a lift?" he winked and when she nodded and grinned he hauled her onto his back and gave her a piggyback downstairs.

* * *

After a day of laughing and teasing and catching up that had Theo feeling like his chest was expanding in the most wonderful way, they crashed in the living room, each with mugs of hot chocolate. His mother sat in the armchair writing in her new notebook with an expensive new quill Theo had gotten her, while Theo read out loud from a book he'd gotten for Lizzie. She was leaning on his arm and reading ahead over his shoulder. Daphne sat in front of the fire, quietly watching them, a small smile on her face.

After a little while Theo noticed Lizzie's muttering had stopped and she had closed her eyes. He watched her eyes flutter as she dreamt. It was moments like this that he longed for, that his heart broke for. He wished so much that he could see her every day. See her grow up and mature and teach her about the world and comfort her when she was upset. Twice a year was just not even close to being enough. She'd be a teenager before they knew it. He prayed that she wouldn't drift away from him. It was so hard for her to have a normal life here. She had no friends, no teachers. Only his mother and Daphne and… well, she didn't even have Astoria anymore by the sounds of it.

"Right. I think it's bedtime for me and her." His mother announced.

Theo smiled down at the sleeping girl and gently woke her. "Bedtime, princess." He whispered.

"But I'm not tired." She protested and then yawned.

Theo chuckled. "Try saying that when you haven't just woken up."

"Come on, you. Teeth, pyjamas and bed." His mother said.

She pouted at him and he chucked her under the chin. "Listen to your mother." He pulled her into a hug. "Night, princess. I'll see you in the morning."

"You'll be here?" She grinned.

"If all goes to plan." He kissed her forehead. "Night, Lizzie. I love you."

"Love you too, big brother." She hugged him again and then went to hug Daphne as well.

"I'll see you both in the morning." His mother said and they left the room.

Daphne sat silently in front of the fire for another five minutes, sipping slowly at the mug in her hand. When no more sounds came from upstairs she stood, placing her mug on the coffee table and sat beside Theo. He went to put his arm around her but she moved to rest her head in his lap and stretch her legs out along the couch.

"Hey." She said as he started brushing his fingers gently through her hair, something he had learned over the years calmed her and practically turned her into a purring, contented cat.

"Hey." He said back. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Fine. Just need a bit of comfort."

This was the only time she let herself be vulnerable. When it was just the two of them. He admired her strength, how she managed to hold herself together for everyone. She'd always done it in school. It was necessary in Slytherin to not show vulnerability in public. But it still took him years to get past her walls. And then all too quickly they'd had to end it. He hated it. Not having her around. Not being able to talk to her or hold her or kiss her or fuck her or fall asleep next to her. She'd offered to stay, said she could handle it, but he'd told her he couldn't live with her being put through that. Being the wife of a Death Eater was bad enough, but at least it had a little protection. But the girlfriend of a Death Eater? There was only so much one person could handle before they broke. So they'd agreed to just be friends.

He sat there, slowly brushing his fingers through her hair, thinking what it would be like if the Dark Lord had never come back. He prayed to deities he didn't even believe in that Draco and Granger's plan would work. That the resistance would become powerful again. That the Dark Lord could be killed. Gods, if that worked… He could be with his family again. When this was all over he'd be free. When this was all over him and Daphne could be together. When this was all over he'd… be in prison with the rest of them. He sighed. Maybe he should help the resistance, try and redeem himself.

"Theo, you okay?" she asked, sleepily.

He sighed. "When all this is over, do you think there's any way I'll be able to get out of going to Azkaban?"

She sat up suddenly and only when she spoke did he realise his slip-up. "What do you mean 'when this is all over'?"

"Nothing, nothing." He brushed it off, avoiding her eye. "Just fantasising, you know."

"Don't lie to me, Theo. Please. We don't lie to one another." She stared at him, searching his features. She reached for his hand and put her fingers though his.

"There's…" he sighed. "There's a chance," he said, trying to choose his words carefully, "and I mean like a one in a hundred billion chance, that things could... go back."

"What do you mean?" she curled her feet up under her so she was fully facing him.

"You know I can't tell you everything." He said and she nodded.

"But?"

"But… the resistance may have a dragon on their side." He said carefully. "One that appears to have a plan that he thinks will work."

Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"But _the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men_ -" he started.

" _Gang aft agley_." She finished for him. "But… _him_?"

"Shocked me too." He nodded and squeezed her hand. "I don't think it'll work. I didn't want to get your hopes up-"

"They're not. Are you…?"

"I'm not involved. Part of me thinks he's an idiot and part of me thinks he's a genius but the part of me that thinks he's an idiot speaks louder and makes the good point that it's dangerous as hell and I'm not risking it."

"No. Good. Sounds like a fool's errand." She looked away from him then, as if calculating something.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing."

He smirked. "I thought we agreed not to lie to one another."

She smirked back and looked straight into his eyes. "If it works?"

"We'll be free… ish. Lizzie and my mum and Tori will be safe. I'll be in prison but you-"

"We'd run. Somewhere they can't be bothered to look for you. The five of us, we'd start a new life. Lizzie could go to school. Tori would make new friends easily. Your mum could even find someone."

"You got this planned out already, sweetheart?" he smiled sadly and cupped her face in his hand. She turned her head to kiss his palm and then looked up at him, her eyes wide and vulnerable still.

"And us?" he asked, knowing they were on treacherous ground. They didn't talk about their history when he visited. They didn't touch more than to hug or a rare cuddle on the couch as this had started.

"We'd be married." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Wouldn't we?"

He couldn't bring himself to speak. Just nodded at her words and ran his thumb over her lips. This was dangerous, dangerous territory. He loved her so much. But he'd had to force that love into a box he never opened for the last six years.

"Do you still love me?" she whispered and he felt her opening that box up, letting his love for her flood his body and he didn't even realise he'd moved until his nose brushed hers.

"So damn much." He whispered back and then he pressed his lips against hers and everything he'd been squashing down into that box for six years came pouring out. They broke apart a minute later, both breathless, knowing they couldn't go further down that road.

"If – and I'm telling you Daph, that's a big if – _if_ it works, if they pull it off, the first thing I'll do is marry you. You won't have even heard yet. I'll just turn up one day and whisk you off to Gretna Green with the rest of them in tow. We'll be married before he hits the floor." He grinned.

She laughed and he was reminded that it was one of the most beautiful sounds he knew.

"I love you." She whispered and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. "No matter what."

"No matter what." He echoed and hugged her.

"Happy Christmas, Theo." She whispered in his ear and squeezed him tighter.

"Happy Christmas, Daphne."

She stood and wished him goodnight, and he was left to put all those feelings back into that box he kept. And, he suspected, she was probably doing the same.

* * *

 **A/N:** " _The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men/ Gang aft agley_ " is from the Robert Burns poem _To A Mouse_.


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